His Mother's Ring
by GetDrunkOnVictory
Summary: Edward's mother died before he got the chance to know her. He has her jewelry and is trying to find the girl he loves to give it to. Bella is a patient of Carlisle's and meets the family due to Esme's insistence. -AH/AU/Canon Pairings- **My first story.**
1. Chapter 1 JPOV

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the _Twilight_ series or the _Twilight_ characters.  I do not own the lyrics either.

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**Jasper POV**

He was staring blankly at the television again. I was tempted to beat him out of it, but that is more Emmett's thing. I so not understand why he cannot just go talk to her. We all know he did not mean to say what he said...even she knows he did not mean it. He just has to put himself on a pointless guilt trip. It is so incredibly ridiculous and it is annoying the crap out of me. He has been staring at the television for over an hour and if he does not say something soon I am going to go over there and-

_Where is your boy tonight?  
I hope he is a gentleman.  
Maybe he won't find out what I know:  
you were the last good thing about this part of town._

My phone started to ring. His sister just saved him from a possible concussion.

"How is he?"

"Hi to you too, Alice."

"Sorry Jazz. Hi and I love you. Now, how is he?" She sounded a little annoyed; now she knows how I feel.

"He is annoying the crap out of me. Your call just prevented me from hitting him."

"What is he doing now?"

"Just staring at the television. I'm pretty sure he does not know what is on right now."

"Why, what's on?"

"_The Golden Girls_"

"Wow! He is really out of it. I don not understand why he will not just go talk to her. It has to be better than what he is doing now."

"But you know him Al; he is just going to sit here swimming in guilt instead of trying to fix anything..."

"Even though there is nothing to fix."

"You know that and I know that, but he refuses to believe it. How are we supposed to cheer him up when he refuses to believe the truth?"

"I don't know Jazzy, I just don't know." We stayed silent on the phone for a while I guess just thinking. I was about to ask her what she was thinking about when she started speaking again. "I'm coming over with dinner, make sure he doesn't leave." With that, she hung up and I looked at my phone for a few seconds. As if he is going to go anywhere.

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**AN:** The lyrics in the beginning are from Fall Out Boy's _Grand Theft Autumn/Where is Your Boy_.  Next chapter will be Edward's point of view.


	2. Chapter 2 EPOV

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the _Twilight_ series or the _Twilight _characters.

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Speak when you are angry and you will make the best speech you will ever regret.  ~Ambrose Bierce

**Edward POV**

I cannot believe I said that to her. How could I tell her that? It _is_ true, she is not my biological mother, but she is still my mother all the same. She is the one who was there to raise Alice and me, and she was there when my dad had to work late at the hospital. She is the only mother I have ever known, she is married to my father and she is Alice's mother.

My biological mother passed away a few months after I was born, I never got the chance to know her and even as a toddler, I could see how sad my dad always was. That is until he met Esme. I was about three when they started dating, of course at my age I did not know that I just knew she made my dad happier than I have ever seen him. Then she moved in and I remember the wedding. Almost a year later Alice was born and they were both even happier. They kept talking about how they had the perfect family with two beautiful children.

I had always seen her as my mother and I never saw anything wrong with that. My real mother had died and Esme was there to take care of me and love as if I were truly hers. I guess in a sense I was hers. I was her son and she was my mother.

I was over there just trying to get a pair of earrings that belonged to my mother to give to my girlfriend of the time. Esme did not think I should give them to her. Esme did not really like my girlfriend… I do not think anyone really did. I know now that she was just trying to make sure it was what I really wanted and I was not going give my mother's jewelry to someone undeserving. Of course me being impatient and completely retarded I did not see it that way three months ago when it happened. Instead, I told her she did not know what she was talking about and since she was not my real mother she had no say in what I did with my life and my mother's jewelry. As soon as the words left my mouth I regretted every word I said, but it was too late. She has already walked out of the room mumbling about a garden party she had to get to. I might have believed it if I did not hear her sobs as she left the house. I was frozen where I stood wondering where my behavior even came from.

For the past three months, my sister and friends have been telling me that I am beating myself up for no reason. Both Alice and my father have repeatedly told me that Esme forgives my behavior and that I should go talk to her. Nevertheless, I know how much my words hurt her even though she is not my real mother. I know how much she loves me and for me to say that to her was completely unacceptable and downright cruel. To top it off my girlfriend and I broke up a couple weeks after the incident. I felt even guiltier knowing Esme was right and I should not give her my mother's earrings. I guess it was a good thing that I was too shocked about what I said to remember to take the earrings on my way out. The truth is, I am scared off what Esme now thinks of me.

Someone kicking the front door to the apartment I shared with my friend Jasper interrupted my thoughts. I looked in time to see Jasper open the door to reveal my pixie-like sister carrying a couple boxes of pizza. As soon as Jasper took the boxes from her, she ran over to me and hugged me tightly.

"We have been so worried about you." She spoke so low I knew Jasper did not hear her. We stayed in the hug for a few minutes and I held her tightly to me until I felt my shirt getting wet. I pulled back and saw the tears in her eyes. I must have been putting them through more worry than I thought.

"Alice I'm fine." I whispered as I wiped her tears, but she pushed me away and glared at me.

"You are most definitely _not fine_, Edward Cullen! If you were fine, you would be speaking to mom, dad would not be calling ten times a day and poor Jazz would not be tempted to beat you up!" She was screaming now and her hands were on her hips. For someone so small she was intimidating. I looked at my best friend who was still holding the pizza boxes in shock. He put the pizza boxes down and spoke.

"She's right you know. I have been tempted to hurt you lately. I was kind of hoping I could beat the sense into you, but I realize that is more Emmett's forte. We have all been worried about you, especially your parents. Carlisle said Esme has not left the house, she is worried she will be out when you finally decide you are ready to talk."

"Once again, I'm fine."

"Dude, do you realize that you have been watching _The Golden Girls_ for the last two hours?" I looked back at the television and sure enough, _The Golden Girls_ were on. I must have been more lost in my thoughts than I originally thought. Once again, Alice pulled me out of my thoughts, but this time it was literal. She was dragging me to the kitchen where our table was.

"Come on, you have to eat. I know, for a fact, that it has been days since you have eaten an actual meal that consists of nothing but a bag of chips." She turned back to look at me with a huge smile looking very accomplished, "I brought pizza!" It is amazing how her quickly her cheerfulness can return.

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**AN: **Next is Alice's point of view and it is a _very_ short chapter.  It will be up on tomorrow since it is so short.


	3. Chapter 3 APOV

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the _Twilight_ series or the _Twilight_ characters.

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**Alice POV**

As we were eating our pizza, I was studying my brother. He had bags under his eyes, proof that he wasn't sleeping, his skin was pale and his freckles were fading, his bronze hair and green eyes were lacking the life they once held, and he looked thin…too thin. There has to be a way I can get him to talk to my mother. They are miserable without each other.

After we ate, I decided to spend some more time with them before going home. Jasper and I were watching _Serendipity_ while Edward stared blankly at the television. I realized it is much weirder than when Jasper told me about it. Although, I can understand Jasper's urge to hit him. His staring _was_ really annoying and started to freak me out. I do not care what my brother says he is definitely _not_ fine.

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**AN:** I warned you that it was really short. I know it was ind of sucky and boring, but it does give a brief description of Edward and it connects the last chapter to the next one. Although you will notice that they are not really chapters, it is just a change in point of view. Next will be Jasper's point of view, again, and you will meet Rosalie and Emmett...the chapter will be up on Friday.


	4. Chapter 4 JPOV

**HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!**

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Disclaimer:** I do not own the _Twilight_ series or the _Twilight _characters.

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**Jasper POV**

It had been about a week since we saw Edward watching _The Golden Girls_, now he just stares at the television without even turning it on.

Currently Alice and I were at my sister, Rosalie's, apartment with her fiancé Emmett. We were once again discussing Edward, as we do now every Tuesday after work. I have started calling it our "Weekly Ed Meets". Alice has been trying to figure out a way to get Edward to see Esme without him realizing until it was too late to back out.

"Why don't you just tell him you want to go shopping and you are making all of us go with you and he has to come? Instead of going shopping, we take him to your parents' house so he is forced to talk to Esme and deal with everything." Rosalie did not even look away from her book when she said this. Although we are all sick and tired of the way Edward has been acting, I think Rose developed boredom during Week 3.

"I guess that could work, but he is going to realize that we are driving to my parents house instead of the mall. How are we supposed to hide that? What about when we get in front of my parents house? How are we going to get him to come out of the car, let alone go inside?" Alice made a good point, but that did not affect Rose.

"We distract him in the car and if he refuses to go into the house, Emmett can carry him, right Honey?" We all looked at Emmett who puffed out his chest and flexed his muscles.

"I'm up for the job."

Alice looked at him, "Don't you mean 'up for the challenge'?"

He scoffed, "Edward is no _challenge_ he is an annoying part-time _job_."

I guess the plans were set. I hope they do not get Edward too upset; I do have to live with the guy.

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**AN:** In case you are wondering Emmett and Edward are 26 years old, Rose, Jasper and Bella are 24 and Alice is 22. The next chapter will be in Bella's point of view and we will meet Carlisle. It should be up on Tuesday.


	5. Chapter 5 BPOV

**Today is a VERY important day in America's history, so go out and VOTE.**

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Disclaimer:** I do not own the_ Twilight_ series, nor do I own the _Twilight _characters.

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**Bella POV**

I walked in to the familiar room, a room of which I am a frequent visitor. I hated coming to the hospital, the place was freezing and smelled like rubbing alcohol and disinfectant. The nurse waved at me and I went to sit in my chair cradling my wrist to my chest. Yes, I am in the hospital waiting room and I have my own chair. If that is not proof that I have been here too much, I do not know what is.

"Hey Bella, Dr. Cullen is ready for you now."

"Thanks, Sarah." Sarah is probably my favorite nurse here. She is so nice and sweet. She always brings me an extra pudding cup when I have to spend the night under observations.

"So Bella what's new?"

"A possible break in my wrist." At that both Dr. Cullen and I laughed. It has become routine for him to ask me "what's new?" and instead of it being a conversation starter it really just means, "What have you done this time?".

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When I got back from my x-ray, I tried to get on to the examination table as best I could with only one hand. With my balance, this was no easy task. I was a little out of breath by the time I was able to get on top of the table.

"I got your x-rays back. You were right, it's broken."

"I told you it was. By now, I know the difference between a sprain and a break."

"Well then Bells, why don't you wrap your cast?"

"No thanks, I'll leave that up to you." Now I had a smile on my face, "I might hurt my other hand." Carlisle chuckled while nodding before staring my cast.

"So…Carlisle how is Esme?" Esme is Dr. Carlisle Cullen's wife and they have two kids, a boy and a girl. Well, Carlisle has two kids; the son is his from a previous marriage. Carlisle turned to me and started my examination while he spoke.

"She's doing okay. Edward still has not called so she has not been her normal self. Which reminds me; she wanted me to ask you if you could come by for the weekend. The kids are coming and she wanted you to meet Alice." Although Carlisle has been my doctor for a little over two years now, I have never met his family, but I have spoken to Esme a few times over the phone. She seems really sweet and caring. I cannot wait to meet her in person.

"Of course Carlisle, you can count me in. It would be nice to finally meet Esme, instead of just talking to her over the phone."

"She said the same about you. You're all done Bella." The conversation usually distracts me, which makes it easier for Carlisle to work when I am not squirming form pain.

After Carlisle helped me down from the examination table, he gave me his address and some cookies Esme made in case I came to the hospital today.

"Thanks Carlisle, I'll see you on Saturday. Tell Esme I said 'Hi' and thank her for the cookies for me, please."

"Will do, I hope you remain in one piece between now and then…or as few pieces as possible." I scowled at him while he just laughed on his way back to his office.

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Once I got home, I decided to call my mother, Renée. I have not spoken to her or Ayden in a while. Therefore, I sat in front of my window and waited for my mother to pick up.

"Hello?"

"Hi Mom."

"Bella! How are you? I have been so worried. Is something wrong? Are you all right? Do I –"

"Mom! Relax I am fine. There is nothing to worry about. How is Ayden doing?"

I heard her sigh into the phone before her voice took on a tired quality. "He's fine. The doctors say he is doing okay for now and we will just have to wait and see." She sounded so defeated.

I stayed on the phone with my mom for a while longer talking about random things and leaving the heavy subjects alone. Phil, my stepfather, got a job coaching baseball at a high school, meaning they will be doing less traveling which is good for Ayden. I told her about breaking my wrist, to which she laughed at me…for ten minutes… straight.

"Thanks Mom, I'm glad my pain can be a form of entertainment for you." My voice was heavy with sarcasm.

"Oh sweetie, I'm sorry. You know I didn't mean anything by it." I could still hear the amusement in her voice.

"What ever mom, anyway, I have to go. I need to pack some clothes; the Cullen's invited me to spend the weekend over there."

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**AN: **I enabled anonymous reviews, so please tell me what you think of my story. Thank you to all those who have all ready reviewed. Next chapter will be back to Edward's point of view and it will be up on Friday.


	6. Chapter 6 EPOV

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the _Twilight_ series, nor do I own the _Twilight_ characters.

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**Edward POV**

I cannot believe my sister woke us up at six in the morning so she could go shopping. She is sick and we should drop her in a loony bin on our way home and go back to our beds. We were all falling asleep in the car, except for of course Alice. She was driving, which is good since she is the only one who can keep her eyes open. It still amazes me how wide awake she can be so early in the morning…or at all times of the day for that matter. It was also somewhat funny to see her in the driver's seat of Emmett's huge jeep, the only vehicle we have that can fit all of us and the many shopping bags Alice will leave the mall with.

"Alice, is there a reason we had to get up at six in the freaking morning?" Rose was not too happy about this. Well, none of us were.

"I told you I wanted to go shopping and the morning is the best time to go to a mall. There are fewer crowds." My sister answered, matter-of-factly.

"We better be getting food out of this." Emmet grumbled back. Huh, I guess he woke up. Jasper on the other hand was sleeping peacefully in the passenger seat.

"Of course we are." She actually had a look of disbelief on her face. "I was thinking we could go to IHOP before we go to the mall." She said this as if we should be praising her for thinking of breakfast. Of course if she did not force us up this early we would not even be thinking about breakfast right now…we would still be asleep.

Now I have to get something off my chest. "Al, why are we going to a mall two hours away?"

"Um…they are having a…um…a…"

"Shoe sale, Al, they are having a shoe sale." Rose answered my question, which was a little weird since the person waking people up to drive two hours should know why we are driving two hours away. I was too tired to question it any further.

About an hour later, we pulled into a parking in front of IHOP and got out of the car happy to be able to stretch. Before we were all out of the car, Emmett had sprinted across the parking lot and was now only a few feet away from the entrance.

"He makes me question his age everyday."

"Nevertheless, you agreed to marry him Rose."

She turned around to playfully glare at me, "Shut up, Eddie."

"He's rubbed off on you," I growled back, not so playfully. Everyone knows how much I hate to be called Eddie. It is not my name; I do not know why they find pleasure in annoying me with it.

Once we got inside the restaurant Emmett was already sitting down in a booth waiting for us and looking very impatient.

"Finally! You guys took so damn long."

"Stop whining Em, we're here now." I told him as I slid into the booth opposite him.

"But I still had to wait for you which is delaying my stomach's satisfaction."

"The waitress hasn't even come to the table yet, we didn't delay anything." As if on cue, a server came to stand in front of us. She was staring at me and a little too close for comfort. She had not said anything, which made Emmett even more impatient, I did not think it was possible.

"Excuse me, are you going to ask us what we want or are you going to stare at him all morning?" We were all stifling laughter while she seemed to come back from some daze she had been in for the last few minutes.

"Oh, um, sorry. My name is Whitney and I will be your waitress this morning is there anything you would like to drink?" For some reason she was still staring at me and I was starting to feel uncomfortable.

"Yeah we will each take a cup of orange juice and a cup of coffee." Whitney finally took her eyes off me to write down what Jasper ordered for us before walking away.

"Was she trying to be seductive or something?" Rosalie did not sound impressed.

"I think she might have been. Did you see the wink she threw Edward before she walked away?" How did Alice see that? Why was she even looking at the girl?

"What are you talking about Alice?"

"Oh, please Edward. Don't act dumb, the girl was seconds away from attacking you with her hands and lips if Emmett hadn't interrupted her ogling."

Of course Emmett had a response to that, "If I weren't so hungry I would have loved to watch little Eddie try to pry her off." They all started laughing at what I assume to be a mental image. I, however, was not laughing. I was incredibly freaked out.

It was much easier to keep Whitney away once we ordered and our food had arrived. Of course, my sister and friends still found her ogling and my discomfort utterly hilarious.

After Whitney tried to slip me her number with the check, earning another round of laughs from my so-called friends, we got to the car and finally continued our drive to the mall.

…

After almost six hours, Alice finally allowed us to vacate the mall. That last hour was spent following Alice into twelve "final stops". She is ridiculous.

Once we got inside Emmett's jeep, we decided it was now safe to voice our complaints. Emmett started us off, "My arms hurt, I think they are going to fall off." His voice was extremely whiny, which Alice noticed.

"Stop whining Em, you sound like a three-year-old. I'm sure your arms are just fine."

Now I had to fight back, "Easy for you to say Al, you didn't carry anything. You left that to Jasper and I. What did you say we were? Oh yeah, the 'love of your life' and your 'sweet big brother'. Way to use our egos to your advantage."

"But you guys are those things to me." She even used her heart melting puppy dog pout, including watery eyes. That thing should be illegal, I have a strong feeling she could get away with murder using that pout.

"Yeah, yeah, sure, sure."

We continued to drive continuing our "feelings" towards the shopping trip for about twenty minutes when we turned down an all too familiar path. I decided to voice my concerns.

"Al, where are we going?" I had a pretty strong feeling about the answer to that question but I wanted to be sure, before I said anything more.

"To Mom and Dad's." She said so matter-of-factly I had to take a few minutes to process the new information.

"Why are we going to there?" My brain refused to acknowledge the information.

"Mom invited one of Dad's patients to stay for the weekend and she wants us to meet her. Mom has spoken to her over the phone a few times and said she is really nice and sweet. Dad agreed with her and said she is also very pretty and funny. So, Mom figured we would get along with her and maybe we could all be friends." Now she is just rambling.

"Okay Alice, I get it. They want us to meet some girl and you took this as an opportunity to get me to try and talk to Esme, even though we know she isn't going to want to see me let alone talk to me."

"Oh, please Edward, Mom wants to see you and she wants to talk to you. I told you, she has long forgiven you for whatever stupid thing you said."

Was Alice right? Does she forgive me? Can she forgive me? I stewed over this for the remainder of the ride, I hardly registered we had even arrived at my parents house until Emmett tried to pick me up.

"What do you think you are doing Em?" I said a little freaked out.

"Rosie said I can carry you inside if you refused to go." Is he pouting?

"Em, I am not refusing to go in, I was just lost in my own world for a bit."

By this time, my parents had made it outside, I assume from hearing the commotion that is us. They were not alone. They had the most beautiful woman trailing behind them. She had a heart shaped face framed by long brown hair and deep chocolate eyes. Her skin was pale but very beautiful and she wore no make-up, not that she needed any. I was broken out of my thoughts when I heard Emmett yell the strangest thing to this goddess who was still standing on the steps…

"Jelly Belly?!"

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**AN:** I hope you liked this one. Next chapter will be up on Tuesday and it will be in Bella's point of view.

Chapter five received over 100 hits! Thank You to all those who reviewed the last five chapters. dazzledbyEdward63's review really made me happy and glad that I decided to write this story.


	7. Chapter 7 BPOV

**Today is Veteran's Day so don't forget to pay tribute to any and all veterans. The sacrifice and services they have provided should not go unnoticed.**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the _Twilight_ series nor do I own the _Twilight _characters, but i do own a ticket to the _Twilight_ movie!

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Bella POV**

I was packed and ready for my weekend at the Cullen's home. Well, my bag was ready, me, not so much. I would be leaving early tomorrow morning so I could have breakfast on my way to the Cullen's home. They wanted me to spend the weekend getting to know their two children and their children's friends. I was not too sure if I would get along with them, especially since Esme informed me of Alice's shopping obsession, but I figured I could spend my time with Esme if I did not like them.

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I woke up early on Saturday morning around seven. I showered and was in my car by eight on my way to get something to keep me awake at Starbucks.

I walked into Starbucks and smelled the rich coffee as I stood in line. When I got to the counter, the cashier was openly checking me out and quite frankly giving me the creeps. I quickly ordered a Double Chocolaty Chip Frappuccino® Blended Crème with whipped cream and a brownie so I could get away from him as soon as possible. It is not much of a breakfast, but it is delicious nonetheless.

I raced out of there as soon as they handed me my order and continued toward my destination. As I was driving I wondered about the people I was about to meet and spend a weekend with. Knowing Carlisle for two years and speaking to Esme frequently over the phone I know how nice they are. I was hoping that with two nice parents the children must be just as friendly and hopefully only become friends with other friendly people. I should not be worrying so much but I just could not help it. What if they were all friendly, but they just did not like me?

By the time I arrived at the Cullen's, I was completely freaked out and my palms were a little bit sweaty. I sat in my car for a few minutes taking full deep breaths before finally deciding to get out. I went to my trunk to get my black and blue polka dotted duffel bag. When I got back around to the front of the car, I saw Carlisle stepping out of the house dressed for work. At the door stood a beautiful woman watching me, as I got closer to the house, she must be Esme.

Carlisle grabbed my bag as he greeted me before introducing Esme and me. "Bella, this is my wife Esme. Esme, this is Isabella Swan."

"Good morning Mrs. Cullen, thanking for inviting me this weekend." As soon as the words left my mouth, she was enveloping me in a warm hug, immediately causing me to relax.

"Bella dear, it is so nice to finally meet you in person, but please call me Esme; we have already become acquainted over the phone." As she let me go, I saw Carlisle come back outside sans my bag. When did he go inside?

"Well I'm off to the hospital for a few hours; I should be home by three, call me if you need anything. Esme, I hope you can keep my dear Bella here safe from self-inflicted injury."

"Like you said Carlisle, 'self-inflicted injury'; no one can keep me safe from myself." I answered back causing the three of us to chuckle.

After we waved to Carlisle as he pulled out of the driveway, Esme turned to me and her sparkly blue eyes met my boring brown ones. "Come on Bella, I'll show you where you are staying and give you a tour of the house."

The house was absolutely beautiful. One side of the house was completely made of glass. It made the living room look open and inviting, but that could have just been the company. We decided to start at the third story, where I would be staying, and work our way back down to the main story.

The first room we went into on the third story was the room I would be staying in. It was blue, with a queen-sized bed that had nice blue and brown bedding. Esme told me she redesigned the room after the first time we spoke on the phone. She said she had a feeling I would be here at some point in time and the room was meant to be mine. It was sweet of her and I could not stop my self from hugging her tightly. There were two more rooms on this floor, her son Edward's and another guest room. The guest room was white and green and the same size as, I guess now, my room. Edward's room was the biggest of the three and one of his walls was the glass wall that took over one side of the house. His room had a black and gold color scheme, which was extremely nice in this room. He had a large black leather couch in front of the glass wall facing it and a black baby grand piano on the other side of the glass wall. On the opposite wall of the glass was his king-sized bed with black and gold sheets. Another wall housed his extensive CD, movie, and book collection. Edward's room also had a private bath as well. There was another bathroom on this floor between my room and the guest room, with a shower and a Jacuzzi tub.

The second floor had Alice's room, a guest room that belonged to Alice and Edward's friends and an office shared by Carlisle and Esme. Alice's room was a mixture of colors, but very tasteful and fun looking. The friend's room had a red and navy color scheme. Alice's room was like Edward's with the private bath and glass wall, but her room was smaller than Edward's was because they had expanded her closet. All of the rooms on the second and third floors had large walk-in closets.

The entity of the basement was Carlisle and Esme's bedroom, minus a small area reserved for the laundry room. The main story of the house was by far my favorite. It was probably because of the enormous gourmet style kitchen. As soon as I walked in to that kitchen, I fell in love. The backyard was so perfect. They had a large pool with a diving board and slide and a Jacuzzi hot tub. The backyard patio had comfortable patio furniture including a porch swing and rocking chair. The backyard was full of century old trees and even had a few tire swings attached to some of them. In addition, a well-kept swing set was big enough for adults to use comfortably.

During my tour of the house, we spoke about anything and everything that came to mind. I told her about growing up in Phoenix with Renee to moving in with Charlie then going off to college in Florida where Renee had moved. She told me how Alice's boyfriend Jasper and his sister Rosalie had grown up with Alice and Edward despite the age differences, then how they met Rosalie's fiancé when they went off to college. Esme also told me about the last few of Edward's girlfriends of which no one was to fond of, especially the latest one.

As we were making lunch in my dream kitchen, Esme told me I was welcome in the house at any time even if to only come to use the kitchen. At that we both laughed knowing there might be times when the kitchen would be my only real reason to visit.

After lunch, we continued our relaxed conversation on the porch swing in the backyard while we waited for Carlisle to come back from the hospital. Once he did get home we gave him some of the leftover lunch Esme and I made and continued our conversation about nothing in particular. Carlisle asked how we were getting along and he told us about his day at the hospital. Apparently, he has no other patient like me and he got a little bored knowing I would not be coming in with a new injury and story.

While we were outside, we heard some car doors and talking coming from the front of the house. Carlisle turned to us, "I guess the kids are home." For some odd reason I felt even more nervous meeting the Cullen kids than I even felt meeting Esme or even going to the hospital.

We stepped on to the front porch and I looked at the scene in front of me. There were a total of five of them. A very small pixie like woman with spiky black hair attached to a tall blond man, a blonde woman who looked like a swimsuit model and had to be related to the tall blond man, and a huge man, who looked like he could crush anything with the flick of a wrist. The big guy was speaking to by far the most gorgeous man I have ever seen. He had bronze colored hair that lay in total disarray on top of his head and a muscular but lean body.

Once I realized I was staring I looked away only to lock eyes with the small pixie who was smiling at me and giving me a knowing look. She must be Alice; therefore, the man I was ogling had to be Edward.

That is when I heard it, from a voice I thought I would never hear again, "Jelly Belly?!"

My only response was the same response I gave when I was little and I heard that greeting, therefore it should have come to no surprise to him when I turned around and screamed right back…

"Jammy Emmy?!"

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**AN:** The chapter on Friday will be from Edward's point of view and it will include how Emmett and Bella know each other. Although until then you are welcome to guess at how they know each other, I think there might have been a small clue in this chapter. Before Friday I might put up a small chapter from Esme's point of view about the time she spent with Bella, but I'm not sure yet.


	8. Chapter 8 EsPOV

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the _Twilight_ series, nor do I own the _Twilight_ characters.

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**Esme POV**

Bella had to be the on of the sweetest girls I have ever met. She is so polite and shy. Spending as much time as I did with her before Carlisle came home, I know she must have low self-esteem. What I do not understand is why. She is beautiful, smart, sweet, caring, selfless, funny, well rounded, and she has such a warm personality. Any one is lucky to get to know her and I am glad she decided to spend the weekend with us. I can only hope the children see in her what I see in her.

I wish for Edward to meet a sweet girl like Bella, instead of the trash he usually dates. Those girls are ridiculous; they have little to no personality and only care about what they can get out of Edward and not the wonderful man he is.

I know Edward feels guilty for what he said to me a few months back, but I also know that he did not mean it. I am Edward's mother in all ways that matter and I know he sees and believes that.

It was wonderful to spend that time with Bella. I know she fell in love with my kitchen, which is a love we both can share. Alice is not very good in the kitchen so it was nice to make lunch with someone who enjoys cooking and who can appreciate all the things the kitchen is equipped with. We had a very lovely conversation as we toured the house, ate lunch, and sat on the porch swing in the backyard.

Sitting and speaking with Bella, I already knew she was going to be a big part of this family. With that thought, I could not be happier.

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**AN: **It is just a little something, not important. Friday's chapter WILL explain how Emmett and Bella know each other and it will be in Edward's point of view. I've noticed not many of you have told me your guesses on how they know each other. I have also put some pictures for this story on my profile. There are not a lot and I will probably add more later on. I am still looking for Edward's bedding.


	9. Chapter 9 RPOV

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the _Twilight _series, nor do I own the _Twilight _characters.

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**Rosalie POV**

How in hell did they know each other? She comes with Esme and Carlisle wrapped around her precious finger and now she has _my_ fiancé giving her his goofy smile and a pet name? Who does she think she is?

I looked around at everyone else, they all seemed shocked but that emotion was being covered by their apparent happiness. Alice had a huge smile on her face as if she knew something we didn't, my brother was too busy staring at Alice to even remember the exchange, and Edward, the idiot, looked like he was about to bow down and worship her. Why am I the only one worried about this? My _fiancé_ has a pet name for somebody else and no one seems to care?

Now they are hugging?! He's giving her an Emmett Hug! Emmett better have a good explanation for this, or I just might kill him…then her.

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**AN:** This chapter is not important. It is just something I though of while writing Friday's chapter. I will have the explanation up on Friday in Edward's point of view.


	10. Chapter 10 EPOV

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the _Twilight_ series, nor do I own the _Twilight_ characters or _Breakfast at Tiffany's_.

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**Edward POV**

I was broken out of my thoughts when I heard Emmett yell the strangest thing to this goddess who was still standing on the steps…

"Jelly Belly?!"

Her reply was strange, but very funny…

"Jammy Emmy?!"

Alice who was standing next to me started to chuckle lowly as to not attract attention, I assume. She leaned a little toward me and whispered, "I _have_ to know the story behind that. Jammy Emmy?" Then she started chuckling lowly again. I would have joined her chuckles if I were not so entranced by the goddess who now had a big, beautiful smile overpowering her face. Looking at her, I could not help but smile along.

Before anything else was said, Emmett ran up to engulf her in one of his painfully well-known bear hugs. She didn't seem affected at all, but Rose sure did. I wondered what was going through her mind, but the thought did not last long because my thoughts were interrupted by an angelic giggle immediately bringing my attention back on the goddess with Emmett.

Emmett finally put her down and all I wanted to do was stare at her, but the second she was released from Emmett's hold Alice was directly in front of her with a huge smile on her small face. I was terrified of what Alice would say. Alice is not very discreet with her observations.

"Hi, you must be Bella. I am Alice, the blond over there is my boyfriend Jasper, the other blonde is his sister Rosalie, but we all call her Rose, I assume you already know Emmett, he is Rose's fiancé and the guy over there staring at you and worried about what I might say is my big brother Edward." She finished with an even bigger smile on her face, if it was possible, and I was very proud of her for not going overboard. That is until I processed what she said about me. I looked at Bella to see her staring back at me, but once she saw me look she dropped her gaze and had a beautiful red tint on her cheeks, making her look even more like a goddess in my eyes.

"Well kids, now that you are all here, why don't we go inside and get settled." Esme will always be the worrying mother making sure we are safe and comfortable, especially in her home.

We took the bags out of the car and went inside to dump them in our respective rooms. On the way to my room, I noticed one of the guest rooms on my floor was remodeled and there was a bag on the bed. This must be where Bella is staying. I hope she does not mind the two of us having a whole floor to ourselves.

When we were done, we headed back downstairs and into the living room where my parents and Bella were already waiting. I walked in followed by an eager Alice, Jasper, an excited Emmett and an angry looking Rose. I wonder what's up her butt.

"So Bella, if you don't mind my asking, how do you and Emmett know each other?" Alice asked as soon as she stepped into the room and dropped herself next to Bella, eager for a story. Sometimes I wonder if her height is due to her lack of growing older. She could be such a little kid at times. The rest of us settled down in various places around the room patiently awaiting an explanation to something we were all wondering just moments ago. Rose almost looked as eager for an answer as Alice did.

"Well, I grew up in Phoenix and Emmett was my next door neighbor. Since he is two years older, he was always a big brother to me. He always took care of me no matter what the issue. I do not have any siblings so it was always nice to have Em around. When it came to school and the other kids, he was always my big protector. He would always scare the other kids, but to me he was always a giant teddy bear." Emmett beamed at the praise and Rose visibly relaxed, but Alice being Alice still was not satisfied.

"Where do the nicknames come in to play?" She was hopping in her seat causing the couch, and Bella, to tremble.

"When we were little Em's mom didn't want to leave him home alone during the summers while she and her husband went to work. My mom was a kindergarten teacher so she had summers off. Em's mom would drop him off before she left for work early in the morning and Emmett would refuse to change out of his pajamas before he came over."

"I didn't see the point, I was just going to go back to sleep as soon as I got there. My mom had to go to work really early." Emmett was quick to defend himself.

"That's true he did go right back to sleep at my house. Anyway when I was younger I was addicted to jelly beans, and they had to be Jelly Belly jellybeans, otherwise I would not eat them. So one morning, when Em just turned seven and I was turning five at the end of the summer, Em came over like every other day, but that morning he was very cranky..."

"I had a doctor's appointment the day before and they gave me a shot!" Once again, Emmett was quick to defend.

"Back to my story…His pajamas that day had toast with jam on them, so I told him I liked his pajamas. Apparently, it was a little too early for his brain because he thought I was making fun of him. He looked at me and said, 'Shut up, Little miss Jelly Belly'. Of course, being the stubborn four-year-old I was, I had to retaliate, so I called him 'Jammy Emmy' and the nicknames just kind of stuck." When Bella finished her story, she just shrugged her shoulders as if it was no big deal. We all looked around for a few seconds before the whole room burst in laughter.

Jasper looked at Emmett while trying to keep his laughter at bay, "Dude, you got mad because she said something about your pajamas?" By the time Jasper had finished his question, his laughter overpowered him again causing everyone else's laughter to increase.

"I guess I did overreact just a little." Emmett looked a little sheepish.

"A little, your outburst changed both your lives!"

Rose looked relieved, but she was still a little worried. So when our laughter died down she asked the question I'm sure has been eating her up inside since we arrived. "So…you two never…dated or anything like that?"

Now it was Bella's turn to look shocked, and much to my happiness, she blushed again. Granted it was not a lot but there was a bit off a light pinkish tint on her cheeks. "God no, like I said Emmett was my big brother. That would have been extremely awkward and possibly creepy. No offense Em." She added the last part quickly.

Emmett did not seem to care. "None taken, besides I feel the same way."

When we were all wrapped up in conversations, my parents decided to leave the room, I guess we were making them feel a little bit old.

"I'm going to head into my office to do a little work." With that, Dad went up the stairs while Esme disappeared into the kitchen. Alice gave me a pointed look. I guess that is her way of telling me to go talk to Mom.

I walked into the kitchen and found her looking getting some meat ready to defrost. I walked up behind her silently and turned her around so I could give her a proper hug. She hugged me back.

"I'm sorry mom; I didn't mean what I said to you that day. I had been having a rough week and I guess you just happened to be the person I took it out on. I know that's no excuse, but I do regret what I said and I just wanted to say I'm sorry." I whispered my apology into her ear not willing to let go just yet. She did not seem too willing either.

"Its okay, sweetie, its okay." It was okay and I knew that now. Even after everything everyone has been trying to tell me, I had to hear for myself from her voice for me to know that everything was indeed okay.

We stayed in the hug for a while longer until we heard soft footsteps approaching the kitchen. We both looked towards the doorway to find a blushing Bella looking a little guilty for seeming to ruin our moment.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to interrupt anything but Alice asked me to come in here to get Edward because she wanted to watch a movie." She blushed even more when she caught me looking at her. I could not help it, my name sounded so beautiful coming from her. I let go of Esme and started to walk slowly to the den hoping to either hear her voice again or maybe spend a little time in the hallway with her. I lucked out because she spoke again.

"Do you need any help with dinner Esme?" She is so sweet, but I secretly hoped my mom would tell her know so I could be near her while we watched whatever movie Alice decided to subject us to. I was getting lucky tonight, it was as if Esme heard my silent plea.

"It's okay dear, go watch the movie with the others." I walked into the den with a big smile on my face and settled down on the couch to watch the movie. Bella came in shortly after and Alice pushed her down next to me before resuming her position on Jasper's lap and starting _Breakfast at Tiffany's_.

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**AN:** Now you know how Emmett and Bella know each other. Only Aden101 and Floridian Girl guessed right. Congratulations to you both! Tuesday's chapter will be Bella's flashback for the story mentioned above. I am not entirely sure what to write next so I probably won't put any extra chapters next week like I did this week.


	11. Chapter 11 Bella's Flashback

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the _Twilight_ series, nor do I own the _Twilight_ characters. Though I _do_ own a ticket to the movie on Friday. :D

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**Bella's Flashback**

Mommy says I have to go to sleep early because today is Tuesday, which means Emmy is coming tomorrow. I always get up early to say hi to Emmy when he comes in the morning.

It is the summer so Emmy does not have school. Emmy's mommy has to go to work so Emmy comes to stay at my house. His mommy leaves really early in the morning so he has to get up early to come to my house. He usually just comes in his pajamas and then climbs into my bed so we can go back to sleep. His mommy gives my mommy a bag of some of his clothes so he can take a shower when we get up for real.

…

The next morning Mommy woke me up early and told me that Emmy would be here soon. I went downstairs and stood on the couch in front of the window so I could see when Emmy came. I saw him coming up the sidewalk in really cool pajamas. They were white footed-pajamas; they had toast with purple jelly on them.

"Hi Emmy; I like your pajamas," I told him with a smile.

"Shut up, Little Miss Jelly Belly!" Well, isn't he Mister Grumpy Pants this morning.

"I was being nice Jammy Emmy. That was competey uncrawed for!"

"I don't have to stand here and listen to you! I'm going back to sleep!" He stomped up the stairs to my room and I was not too far behind.

When we got to my bed, we both crawled in on our own sides. "Good night Jelly Belly," he grumbled.

"Good night Jammy Emmy," I grumbled right back before I closed my eyes and went back to sleep.

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**AN:** I think I confused you with my author's note from last chapter, this was going to be put up regardless. I thought of this when I thought of the nicknames. What Bella tried to say when she was little is: "That was **completely uncalled** for!"

Some of you said you wanted movie night, so I will do movie night in Alice's point of view and that will be the next chapter. I don't know what other movie they should watch, so if you have an idea for a movie, let me know.


	12. Chapter 12 APOV

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the _Twilight _series, nor do I own the _Twilight_ characters.

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**Alice POV**

I was talking to Rose and Jasper when I saw Edward follow mom out of the room. I looked back at Jasper and saw him looking in the direction of the kitchen as well.

"I guess he's doing what we dragged him here to do." Yes, Jasper was definitely looking in that direction.

"I don't understand what took him so long; we all know Esme is going to forgive him like nothing happened. For a doctor he is somewhat slow." Bored, critical Rose is much better than angry, jealous Rose is.

Now I am sure they both know where Edward went and they watched him leave, but I have a feeling I was the only one who saw him take a glance at Bella before he left the room.

"Let's watch a movie!" I suddenly announced to the other four people currently in the living room. I was not sure if I really felt like watching movies or if I just wanted to curl up with Jasper. I think it is the latter; and watching a movie allows us to curl up with each other quietly and still have the company of our family. Moreover, I can ponder Edward's new infatuation without raising suspicion about my thoughts and silence.

"Well then come on Pixie, I'll race you to the den!"

"How old are you Em? I mean seriously, racing to the den?"

"Is that a 'no' then?" He looked truly disappointed; it is so fun to mess with him.

"I never said I won't race you, I merely asked your age." I already had a big smile on my face while Emmett's changed from a pout to a grin in .6seconds.

"I'm 26 and I'm ready to race!" Emmett's booming voice filled the living room and I am pretty sure the windows shook.

Jasper stepped in just when we needed him, "On your marks…" Emmett and I faced the way to the den, "Get set…" We got into position, hands on floor and knees bent "Go!" We set off for the den without hesitation. I allowed Emmett to get in front of me in order to give him some false confidence, but I made sure to stay hot on his trail. When we made the last turn, I squeezed myself in between Emmett and the wall and pushed my self faster. I really wish I could have seen the look on his face when I passed him, but I was more into reaching the den before him. I could hear Jasper cheering me on and Bella laughing as I made it passed the den's threshold and crossed the finish line.

"You cheated!"

"I did not! I won fair and square! It is not my fault you are so big and your legs couldn't carry your weight fast enough!" I glared at Emmett for even thinking I cheated. How could he think that? It is impossible to cheat at a race in a house when the house has no hidden passageways on the first floor and there are no shortcuts to the den.

"Stop pouting Em, it was just a race. If you were going to be such a sore loser, you should not have challenged Alice. I told you she was on the track team in high school." Rose sealed her scolding with a much too intense kiss with Emmett.

"Okay Rose, there are other people in this room and I think I speak for all of us when I say 'We would like to keep our appetite before dinner.'" They pulled apart and went to sit on the loveseat facing the big screen television. Jasper went to sit on the large leather recliner and I turned to Bella.

"Could you please go to the kitchen and tell Edward we are going to watch a movie?" I added a small pout. I did not need to use a full one because I was sure she would do it anyway.

"Sure Alice." She turned around and headed towards the kitchen.

"So Alice what are we watching?" Rose asked me from the loveseat. She and Emmett were now in some laying-down-sitting combination…they move fast.

"As if you even have to ask Rose, we are watching _Breakfast at Tiffany's _of course. I think we should take a trip to New York and do that some time." I really did want to do that. We could get all dressed up and take a taxi to Tiffany's and have breakfast in front of the windows. It would be so much fun.

I set up the surround sound, lights and the DVD player before settling on Jasper's lap while we waited for the DVD menu to come up and for Edward and Bella to come into the den. Edward walked in and sat on the sofa while I got up to turn off the lights before pushing Bella down on the sofa next to Edward and resuming my place on Jasper's lap to start the movie.

Once the movie was over, my mom came into the den to tell us to wash up because dinner was ready.

I had noticed Edward and Bella had not moved at all during the movie so I pushed them to sit next to each other at dinner hoping for some physical contact between them. I was thoroughly disappointed with dinner's social interactions, although Jasper did keep his hand on my knee all through dinner.

During dinner, we talked about the movie and some other random, pointless things until Emmett asked a question I had completely forgotten.

"Bells, I've been meaning to ask you…what happened to your wrist?" Bella blushed a deep crimson.

"Oh, um, I broke it." She mumbled this lowly, I guess she was hoping we would not hear, but of course, we all did.

"How did you fall?" You could hear the concern dripping off Edward's voice.

"I have a really old truck and it's too high for me. I tripped while I was trying to get out of it and all my weight landed on my wrist." Edward winced, but again I think I was the only one to notice.

"So that's your truck outside? Do you mind if I look under the hood? It has been a while since I have been under the hood of a truck, let alone a classic." Rose looked beyond excited; who knew having an old car could get Rose to warm up to you so fast.

"Um, sure, I guess. I don't really mind." Bella looked somewhat unsure if she should let Rose touch her truck. I guess she did notice Rosalie shooting daggers at her earlier.

Once dinner was finished, my parents went up to my dad's office and the six of us went back to the den for another movie.

"So what's next on the list Pix?" Edward went back to his previous seat with Bella voluntarily sitting next to him. I also noticed she was sitting closer to him now than before when I pushed her down.

"We are watching _Boys and Girls_," I said hopping up and down before putting it in the DVD player. I love this movie.

"Do we have to be forced to sit here and watch you and your obsession?" Does Emmett not know how ridiculous and annoying he sounds when he whines?

"You're just jealous because Freddie Prince Jr. is cuter than you. Now shut up and enjoy the movie." I resumed my seat on Jasper's lap, excited to see Freddie on the big screen television.

"He is cute, isn't he?" Trust Rose to agree with me.

"Rosieeeee!"

"Shut it Em. What about you Bella, do you find him as adorable as we do?" I noticed Edward stiffen slightly and turn to hear Bella's answer. The others did not see what I did.

"He's cute, but I'm more of a Ryan Reynolds fan." She blushed minutely; I am definitely going to have more movie nights with her around!

We watched a few more movies and I noticed Bella had fallen asleep on Edward's shoulder while Edward had the biggest grin on his face and looked truly happy. I fell asleep shortly after, comfortably on Jasper's lap with his arms wrapped around me.

I awoke a couple hours later to see Edward carrying Bella out of the room, before Jasper and I shut off everything and headed upstairs to bed.

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**AN:** Thank you to those who gave some ideas and to those who gave me the idea of continuing movie night. I have some good news and bad news. Bad news: I might not be able to put up a new chapter on Tuesday, I have three projects due next week so the earliest you will probably get a chapter might be Wednesday, which is only a day more. Though I am not sure what to write. Good news: _Twilight_ came out today and I am going to go see it tomorrow with my best friend.  
I am not sure whose point of view the next chapter will be in because I have no idea what to write, but I am pretty confident it will not be in Edward's point of view because I know how I want to end the chapter.


	13. Chapter 13 BPOV

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the _Twilight _series, nor do I own the _Twilight_ characters.

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**Bella POV**

I woke up to find myself in a very soft bed and immediately I knew I was not in _my_ bed. My eyes flew open and searched the room I was in. Finally, it dawned on me that I was in the Cullen's home and my mind flooded with memories of yesterday…and yesterday night.

I grabbed a change of clothes and my toiletry bag before I opened the door to peek out into the hall. _Good, no one is there,_ I thought. I looked to see the door to Edward's room closed and I rushed to the bathroom, without tripping, and closed and locked the door before I finally took a breath.

I put my things down on the counter and looked around the bathroom. It still left me in a state of awe. The bathrooms in this house were breathtaking with their spa-like quality.

As I washed my hair with my strawberry shampoo, I thought about the events of last night's impromptu-movie-night. As soon as I walked back into the room, Alice had pushed me onto the couch next to Edward. I did not even pay attention to _Breakfast at Tiffany's_, I could not move. Not because I do not like the movie, I really do like that movie, but because of the god sitting next to me.

His close proximity wreaked havoc on my nervous system. Throughout the movie, I was much too aware of him, his breathing, and how the skin of my arm that was near him tingled. It took all of my strength to keep my hands to myself before I reached over and touched him.

Then we had to sit next to each other at dinner. I had to move my legs to the side for fear of what I would do if his leg accidentally brushed against mine, and I can confidently say that if my leg brushed against his it would not have been accidental.

We went back to the den after dinner to continue movie night and I found myself wanting to be close to him. When we sat on the couch, I sat a bit closer to him, hoping I wouldn't embarrass myself and touch him.

I remember we watched a few more movies, of which I couldn't even tell you the names. I think I might have fallen asleep on Edward's shoulder….oh God! I fell asleep on Edward. He is going to think I am a total freak; I just made this an even more awkward weekend. Nevertheless, how did I get to my bed?

The question continued to plague my thoughts I got dressed and brushed my hair and teeth.

* * *

I went downstairs to find Esme, Carlisle, Alice, and Jasper at the kitchen table with French toast and bowls of fruit in front of them. I said "good morning" to everyone before sitting down next to Carlisle and in front of Alice.

"Good morning dear, would you like some breakfast?" Esme is so warm and motherly, I don't understand how Edward could ever refrain from speaking to her.

"Sure, thank you." I gave her a warm smile, which she returned, before starting on my French toast.

"It's not a problem, so what do you guys have planned for the day since Carlisle and I won't be home until later tonight?"

I looked up, a little shocked. I had no idea they wouldn't be here. I felt somewhat nervous thinking about only being with their children. What if Edward really does think I'm strange and he told his friends? What if Rosalie still hates me, for a reason I still haven't figured out, and continues with her death glares?

"Oh yeah I forgot about that. Well, have fun at the jazz concert. I was thinking we could just hang out by the pool today." Alice then turned her attention to me. "Did you by any chance bring a bathing suit with you?" I merely shook my head 'no', still a little nervous about being left alone with them. "Well come to my room after breakfast and I'll see what I can find for you. I think I may have something you can borrow, or maybe Rose does."

Before I could respond, Emmett and Rosalie walked into the kitchen followed by…Edward. He looked at me and smiled, but I was unsure whether it was genuine or if he was laughing at me. His bright emerald eyes held amusement and something else I could not quite figure out. He sat down in the seat next to me and smiled again before beginning to eat his breakfast. When did Carlisle and Esme leave the kitchen?

"Oh, they went to get ready for the jazz concert. They left while we were talking." I guess Alice must have seen the confusion on my face. I am glad she only related it to her parents and not Edward's smile.

"So Edward how's your back?"

"What are you talking about Alice? My back is fine, why wouldn't it be?"

"Well I know you haven't been working out for the last few months, and then you go and carry Bella up two flights of stairs last night. I just thought that maybe your muscles would be a little sore from the lack of use?" Wait, did she just call me fat? "I'm not saying you are heavy Bella, it's just his muscles have been a little out of work for the last few months." How does she seem to know what I am thinking? Hold on…did she say 'carry Bella'. When did he carry me last night? Oh…that must have been how I got into bed last night.

"You carried me last night? You really did not have to do that; you could have left me on the couch, I would have gotten up and upstairs eventually." Edward turned to look at me when I started to speak, but before he could say, anything Alice had more to say.

"Wait a minute...you didn't know? You slept through the whole thing?"

Edward ignored her questions and turned back to me, "I couldn't leave you downstairs on an uncomfortable couch while I went upstairs and slept in a real bed. It would have made a bad impression." He said the last part low enough for only me to hear and winked when he was done.

"Well, thank you for putting me in my bed. It was very gentlemanly." Then I looked back at Alice so I could answer her question and look away from his mesmerizing eyes. "No Alice, I didn't know, I must have slept through the whole ordeal."

* * *

After we finished breakfast, said goodbye to Carlisle and Esme, and Alice told everyone else what we were doing today, she grabbed by arm and all but dragged me up to her room while Rosalie followed behind us at a much calmer pace. Once we got inside, Alice dropped by arm and rummaged through a drawer that looked like it only contained bathing suits.

"Alright Bella, here, you can wear this one. It's perfect for you." Alice handed me some cloth before shoving me into her bathroom.

Once the door closed, I look at the bathing suit she handed me. It was a turquoise and white polka dot bikini. It was really pretty, just not something I would normally wear, but something told me it was better just to go along with whatever Alice says. I put it on and folded my clothes on the counter before looking into the mirror. It looked pretty good if I do say so myself. _Well here goes, I wonder what Edward will think of it._

I walked out of the bathroom hugging my clothes to me and saw Alice already changed in yellow skirtini and Rosalie walking back into the room in a plaid bikini. These two make models look ugly.

"Well…" Alice faced me with her hands on her hips and began bouncing rather impatiently, "Let's see how it looks."

I put my clothes on the chair next to the bathroom door and did a small twirl for them.

"Wow Bella, that bathing suit was made for you."

On cue, my face flushed with embarrassment and I looked down mumbling a "thanks Rosalie".

* * *

We grabbed some towels and I grabbed my book, _Deception Point_ by Dan Brown, before going out to the backyard. Outside the boys were already in the pool playing around with a football. I noticed they also put out some lounge chairs near the pool. Alice and I sat down on the lounge chairs while Rose jumped in the pool and swam to join the boys and their football. I have never met someone more beautiful or more tomboyish than Rosalie. Emmett really has found the perfect girl for him.

When Rose reached the boys, Jasper and Edward turned around to look for us. Once they spotted us, Jasper blew a kiss to Alice and Edward waved before they turned back around and continued throwing around the football.

"So Bella…what do you think of my big brother?" I could only stare back at her, frozen in my chair. "Oh please, did you really think I didn't notice how you and Edward have been shooting little glances at each other since yesterday? It is a little obvious you two are attracted to each other."

Before I could reply to Alice's accusations, we heard a scream and a few curses come from Rosalie and Emmet. When we looked over to where they were, we saw Emmett, Jasper, and Rosalie staring at something on the ground...it was Edward. Alice and I jumped up from our chairs and sprinted over to where they were.

"Edward! I knew he looked a little sick." Alice remained her cool and began to bark out orders. "Jasper, call my parents and tell them we are heading to the hospital." Jasper ran inside without further instruction. "Emmett, get Edward into the jeep." Emmett picked up Edward and jogged to the car, he got stronger after high school. "Rose, pack us some clothes and a bag for Edward and you and Jasper can meet us at the hospital. Take Esme's car." Rose looked like she was holding back tears, but ran inside to get a bag ready. "Here Bella put this and your flip flops on so we don't look too indecent when we get to the hospital." She threw me Edward's t-shirt and put on Jasper's before grabbing Emmett's and pulled me to the front of the house and into Emmett's jeep where Emmett and a passed out Edward already were.

Alice got into the passenger seat while I climbed into the back next to Edward. I cradled his head in my lap and put my hand on his chest. His heartbeat was going too fast and his breaths were quick and short. As we sped to the hospital there was only one thing on my mind…_Please be all right._

_

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**AN:** Sorry this chapter is so late, but I had projects due Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. I did get an 'A' on the project I had due on Monday. Then Thanksgiving on Thursday, Happy Belated Turkey Day! and then I woke up early to go shopping for Black Friday (I got pajama pants for $4!! :) ).

The next chapter will be in Edward's point of view and will start off when he wakes up in the hospital and you will find out what is wrong with him. There were some clues in chapter 3, see if you can guess right.

I am really hoping to keep my promise of two more chapters by Tuesday night, but right now I don't know.

Thank you to the 29 people who voted in the poll. :D


	14. Chapter 14 EPOV

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the _Twilight_ series, nor do I own the _Twilight_ characters, but I do own Dr. Costanza and Ayden.

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**Edward POV**

_Beep…beep…beep…beep_

An incessant beeping awoke me.

_Beep…beep…beep…beep_

I was unsure as to where it was coming from and why whatever was beeping was beeping, and my eyelids felt too heavy to open.

_Beep…beep…beep…beep_

_Can someone turn that damn beeping thing off!_ I tried to move my arm to wipe my eyes so I could finally open them. There was something pulling on my hand that stung each time I tried to move. I decided I needed to open my eyes now if I wanted to discover what the noise was and what was pulling on my hand.

_Beep…beep…beep…beep_

Slowly, I was able to lift my heavy eyelids and blink away the cloudiness in my vision.

When my eyes adjusted, I was able to make out the white ceiling before lowering my eyes to the boring beige walls and a chair with a strange pattern. _White, beige, patterns, beeping…I must be in the hospital. Why am I in the hospital?_

I looked to my right and saw the IV leading from the bag to my hand. _So that is what was stinging me._

On my left was a shocking scene. There was a beautiful brown-haired woman sitting in one of those ugly patterned chairs with her nose in a book. It was Bella.

"Bella?" My voice was only a whisper, but she must have heard it because her head snapped up and she had a stunned look on her face.

"Edward? You're awake." Her lips spread into a bright smile that lit up the room. I was able to block out everything around me, including the annoying beeping, and focus on the beautiful women before me. "Edward…are you okay? Do you want me to go find the doctor?" Her smile faltered and it was enough to bring me back to Earth.

"No, its okay, I'm fine." My eyes briefly scanned the room before settling back on Bella, "Where is everybody?"

"Oh, well let's see…Alice went back to the house to pick up some clothes for you and of course Jasper went with her. Um, Emmett was hungry, no surprise there, and he took Rose down to the cafeteria, but then complained about the poor selection and said he was going for some burgers. Carlisle left to fill your prescription and pick up some other necessary things while Esme is shopping for books and memorizing the information packets they gave her."

Before I got the chance to ask her what exactly my father was picking up things for and what my mother was learning, a nurse walked in and smiled warmly at both Bella and I.

"Good evening Edward, I see you woke up. I will let Dr. Costanza know and call your father before I come back."

"Thanks Angela." Angela, as well as her husband Ben, went to high school with me. Now I can usually find her at the nurses' station when I come see my father.

Angela looked at Bella and threw a quick wink over her shoulder at me before leaving and closing the door behind her.

When I looked back at Bella I saw that she had once again immersed herself in her book. I took this opportunity to take in her appearance. She was wearing a white t-shirt, which was very formfitting, and a pair of green shorts. The straps of her bathing suit were still visibly seen tied around her neck. She had pulled her wavy brown hair into a ponytail behind her head and the ends seemed to curl a bit. Before I could continue my mental detailing, the door to my room opened once again, except this time it revealed Dr. Costanza. My palms became sweaty as I awaited his diagnosis. With what I was told of my parents current errands, I was extremely nervous to learn what could possibly be wrong with me.

"Alright Edward, well it was a good thing you were brought in when you were. I am afraid you have type 1 diabetes and if any more time was spent getting you into this bed you might have slipped into a diabetic coma. It is a good thing your father is a doctor here so we were able to hold off on paperwork while we were treating you. You will need to take insulin shots three times a day and check your blood sugar five times a day. Angela will come in to help you with that and I will send over the nutritionist tomorrow so she can go over a diet with you. You should be able to get out of here tomorrow evening or Tuesday afternoon at the latest."

While Dr. Costanza was finishing some explanations, Bella's phone began to ring and she stepped out of the room to answer it. Dr. Costanza left shortly after only to be replaced by Angela, who came in to teach me how to set up my insulin shots and check my blood sugar.

"She's nice." Angela's abrupt comment caused me to jump a little.

"Who are you talking about Angie?" She looked at me only long enough to roll her eyes before looking back at what she was doing.

"I'm talking about Bella. I had the opportunity to speak with her while you were snoozing, plus a met her a few times when your father was patching her up. She is nice…I think you two would be good for each other. She is a big improvement over the other sluts – I mean girls you have dated." She gave me a sly smile before once again continuing with her task.

Angela left and my door opened once again allowing my parents to come into the room, but they were not alone. The rest of the gang was following close behind. _What, is it a revolving door?_ The last person to walk in was Bella who was carrying a paper bag. She walked to sit down in the farthest corner of the room before opening the bag and producing a burger that Emmett must have brought back for her. I do not think I have ever seen Emmett return with food for someone else and not have a bag of food for him.

We spent some quality time together before visiting hours were over and they were all kicked out and told to come back in the morning. Alice and Bella were elected to keep me company tonight, all thanks to Angela. I think her and Alice are up to something.

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**AN:** I'm sorry this is so late. I had changed my mind about what I had given Edward. Originally was going to give him vitamin B12 deficiency anemia, but that was too related to cancer and I did not want there to be a mix up. Plus diabetes will be easier for me to include in the story because my older brother was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes his senior year of high school. I know type 1 diabetes isn't typical in people in their mid-twenties but this is fiction so it doesn't matter. The clues in the story work out for diabetes as well, so it still makes sense.

I have good news and bad news. The bad news is I have midterms the week of December 15th and a week in January, so for those two weeks I will not be able to update and I thought I should warn you now. The good news is the project I was working on last weekend and the beginning of last week was turned in on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and I got an A! :D

Next chapter will be in Bella's point of view. It will include the brief chat she had with Angela, the phone call she received, and the sleep over she, Alice, and Edward have in the hospital.

I wonder if any of you figured out where I got the name Costanza from. ;)

Ayden will make his appearance soon and who he is will be explained...I'm just not sure when.

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Psst...this story is close to 100 reviews. ;)


	15. Chapter 15 BPOV

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the _Twilight_ series, nor do I own the_ Twilight_ characters; but I do own Dr. Costanza (not the name), and Ayden and the Galloway family.

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Bella POV**

We finally arrived at the hospital and Emmett pulled in next to the doors of the emergency room. Before the car could come to a full stop, Alice was running into the ER. Emmett put the car in park before rushing to the back and opening the door to get Edward out. Alice came rushing back out pushing a wheelchair and skidded to a stop next to Emmett who was now leaning into the backseat so he could grab Edward. He picked him up and placed him carefully in the wheelchair while I jumped out of the car and ran to the other side to stand with Alice.

Once Edward was safely strapped in the wheelchair, Alice and I rushed him into the hospital while Emmett got back in the car to find parking.

I stood on the side with Edward, and Alice rushed up to the desk to tell them "Dr. Carlisle Cullen's son was passed out and needed to be admitted as soon as possible". As soon as the words 'Dr. Carlisle Cullen's son' left Alice's mouth, three people came rushing to where I stood, grabbed Edward's wheelchair, took him past the doors out of the room, and down a hall. I walked over to Alice as she turned back to the nurse.

"You can wait in the waiting room; we will update you on his progress and let you know if and when he is given a room." The nurse looked a bit frightened towards the end of her sentence; I was unsure if it was because of whom the patient was or the glare Alice started to look at her with.

"It must be a private room. I do not want anyone else in there." The nurse quickly nodded to Alice's demands before picking up a phone, I assume to find an available private room or to make a private room available.

Alice and I turned away and without a word exchanged walked towards Carlisle's office. I guess we both felt more comfortable there than in any waiting room. I grabbed a chair and faced the window while Alice sat in her father's oversized chair at his desk. We sat there unspeaking until I broke the silence.

"Alice?"

"Bella."

"When we saw Edward you said something. You said, 'I knew he looked a little sick.' What did you mean and why didn't you say anything?" I turned to face Alice and she mirrored my actions. She looked me in the eye as if trying to find an answer to a question she had of her own. She must have found the answer she was looking for because she relaxed further into her father's chair and began speaking.

"Everyone dreams when they sleep, some people remember their dreams while others don't. The thing about my dreams is that they usually become reality." There was no way she missed the confusion displayed on my face. I asked about her brother, not dreams, and what does she mean by 'usually become reality'? "My dreams are kind of like visions I guess. I have a dream and anywhere from a few days to a few months later, whatever happened in my dream happens in real life.

"A few weeks ago I had dinner with Edward and Jasper at their apartment. I noticed some physical changes in Edward that were too strong to have been the result of his guilt towards my mother. A few days later, I had a dream that he was in the hospital. Just like today, you were there. I didn't tell anyone because your presence in the dream reassured me that everything would be all right and I found it pointless to worry anyone when I knew everything would turn out fine." I stared at Alice. I did not know what to say. What do you say to someone who sees the future in dreams? Someone who knew they would meet you before they even knew you existed.

"Why did my presence in your dream reassure you? You hadn't met me yet." Alice searched my eyes once again; and again she must have found whatever she was searching for.

"It wasn't the first dream you starred in." Once again, I was shocked. "The first time I saw you, was in a dream I had about a year ago. It was early morning and you were both lying in bed; a room I have never seen before. Your eyes were closed and I guessed you were still asleep; Edward was propped up on his elbow, holding up his head and upper body, while his other hand was tracing your facial features. I have never seen a more content look on his face. Then the scene changed to Edward in his room at my parents' house. He was looking at something in a small box before he closed it, put the box in his pocket, and left the room.

"You are the only person I have told about this dream. You are the first girl to hold his attention and I felt I should tell you in case you ever decide to leave him." Now I was confused and a bit hurt that she thought I would do that. Although, now I understood that knowing look Alice gave me when we met.

"Why would I leave him?"

Alice gave a sigh before answering my question. "The same night I dreamed of this hospital trip I had a dream of you in a different hospital. This hospital was in a different state. I did not know why you were there, but I knew it was after Edward's hospital stay. You were crying and somehow I knew Edward wasn't the patient."

Before I had a chance to continue the conversation, the door to Carlisle's office opened and in walked Emmett, Jasper, and Rosalie, who were all dressed in normal clothing. Rose and Jasper each carried a bag. Rose handed the one she was carrying to Alice, so I assumed the one Jasper was holding was clothes for Edward.

Alice peeked into the bag Rose handed her before she grabbed my hand, pulled me out of my seat, and led the way to the private bathroom Carlisle had in his office. I closed the door behind us while Alice placed the bag on the counter and pulled out two shirts, two pairs of shorts, two pairs of socks, and two pairs of sneakers. She handed me the larger size of each and we got dressed in the clothes keeping our bathing suits on underneath.

We left the bathroom and returned to our seats. I to my seat in front of the window and Alice on Jasper's lap, since he was now sitting in Carlisle's chair. Emmett and Rosalie were sitting on the couch that was against the wall near the door of the office. We all sat quietly deep in our own separate thoughts and we barely registered when the door opened until Carlisle spoke causing all of us to jump from the break in silence.

"I figured I would find you guys huddled in here." I turned in my chair and saw Carlisle and Esme standing in the doorway; I could tell Esme was holding back tears. Right when I was about to get up to hug her, Angela walked in. She was usually the nurse that took my blood whenever I came into the hospital.

"Hi everyone, they just put Edward in a room and Dr. Costanza would like to speak with you."

"Thank you Angela. Come on everyone." We all got up and followed Carlisle out of his office.

…

Dr. Costanza was a short, round man. He was balding and wore round thin-framed glasses.

We all listened attentively as he informed us of Edward's type-one diabetes, and about the support from all of us that would be needed. After Dr. Costanza handed Carlisle a few prescriptions, we were able to enter Edward's room.

We spoke quietly amongst ourselves as we let Edward continue his sleeping before drifting off into our own activities. Carlisle left to drop off Edward's prescriptions and Esme went along in search of pamphlets and books about "handling your diabetes". Emmett announced he was hungry, surprise surprise, and dragged Rosalie out of the room behind him. Alice, who had been searching through the bag Rosalie and Jasper bought for Edward, said, "Rose should not be aloud to touch clothes when distraught" grabbed the bag, Jasper's hand and left the room yelling over her shoulder about packing some clothes, but not before she threw a book into my lap.

I looked at the book that was no resting in my lap; it was the book I had grabbed earlier, _Deception Point_ by Dan Brown. My gaze flickered over to Edward he was still asleep.

After acknowledging the fact that I was abandoned at a hospital with only a sleeping patient, whose father is my doctor and whom I had only met the day before, to keep me company, I opened my book and began to read.

Emmett came in to inform me of the horrid food found in the hospital's cafeteria and asked if I wanted a burger since he was leaving the hospital in search of some. I agreed and he left just as quickly as he had come in.

I was able to read a few chapters before the opening of Edward's door broke the daze I always seem to be in when reading. Angela popped her head through the barely open door and peeked into the room. Her eyes roamed the room, briefly looking at Edward and seeing that he was asleep continued roaming the room until they finally settled on me sitting in a chair off to the left of Edward's bed. She gave me a warm smile and walked into the room, quietly closing the door behind her.

"Hi Bella, how's your wrist?"

"Its okay, the pain has stopped and the cast hasn't started to itch yet. How's Ben?" As soon as I asked about Ben, her husband, Angela's eyes lit up and her smile grew.

"He's great. We were thinking of starting a family so he is off looking for a bigger place, he's all about the best schools being close by." She rolled her eyes at that, but you could still see the love she had for him in them. "I wasn't aware you knew Edward, may I ask how the two of you met?" Another knowing look, although, not as intense as Alice's look.

"Well, actually, I met him and the others, except for Emmett, yesterday. Esme asked me to spend the week in her home."

"Why 'except for Emmett'?"

"We grew up together back in Phoenix."

"Oh, I see. So where is everyone?" She looked around the room as if she missed them the first time.

"It was sort of a silent agreement that Edward should not wake up and find he is alone. I think it was accidentally decided that I would be that person."

"What do you mean by 'accidentally decided'?"

"Each couple left one by one to do different things and I am pretty sure they did not realize they left me here without a car and no place to go."

Angela chuckled softly, "That sounds like them all right."

Angela and I talked a bit more until she had to go back to work. I returned to my book and continued reading until I heard what sounded like someone whispering my name. My head shot up and I was surprised to see Edward awake and staring at me. Even in a hospital and after sleeping for the last six hours, his voice still sounded velvety soft.

"Edward? You're awake." I could not stop the smile my lips formed, but it faded a little when I noticed Edward's eyes glaze over a bit and he seemed to be frozen in place. "Edward…are you okay? Do you want me to go find the doctor?" My questions seemed to snap him back to reality.

"No, its okay, I'm fine." His eyes quickly scanned the room before settling back on me, "Where is everybody?"

"Oh, well let's see…Alice went back to the house to pick up some clothes for you and of course Jasper went with her. Um, Emmett was hungry, no surprise there, and he took Rose down to the cafeteria, but then complained about the poor selection and said he was going for some burgers. Carlisle left to fill your prescription and pick up some other necessary things while Esme is shopping for books and memorizing the information packets they gave her." As soon as I finished informing him of his family's whereabouts, Angela walked in and gave us both another warm smile before focusing her attention on Edward, the patient. I returned to my book while she spoke to Edward.

My phone began to ring; I looked up and noticed that Angela had been replaced with Dr. Costanza, who was speaking to Edward about his diabetes. The ringing phone allowed me the perfect opportunity to give Edward some privacy with his doctor, so I quietly left the room and stood in the hallway to answer my phone.

"Hello?"

_"Hi Bella!"_ I could not stop the smile from appearing on my face once I heard the voice on the other end.

"Hi Ayden, how are you today?"

_"I'm fine; my chest didn't hurt today so Daddy took me to the beach to build sandcastles. We made the whole neighborhood!"_ I saw Dr. Costanza leave Edward's room and say something to Angela before she walked into the room after smiling at me.

"Wow, that's so cool I wish I could have been there with you."

_"Are you coming to visit me soon? I really miss you."_ It broke my heart to be away from him. I really missed him when I was not there and when we have not spoken in a while. It had been a few months since I last spoke to Ayden on the phone and almost a year since I was in Florida.

"I miss you too Ayden. I will see you in a few months. I'm going to be there when you have your surgery."

"Okay, my mom says I have to go now. She says I need to take my shower and get ready for bed since I have school tomorrow. Bye Bella, I love you!"

"I love you too Ayden. Have a good night and do not let the bedbugs bite. Bye."

_"Bella?"_

"Hello Mrs. Galloway. Ayden told me he wasn't in any pain today." Mrs. Galloway was Ayden's mom. The Galloway family lived next door to my mother in Florida.

_"He was fine today. We have a doctor's appointment to see if the surgery can stay as scheduled or if it needs to be moved up. I'll let you know what is decided."_

"Okay, thank you Mrs. Galloway, I will be sure to call you sometime next week."

I hung up the phone in time to see Angela leave Edward's room. She gave me a wink and walked down the hall towards the nurses' station. Before I had the chance to contemplate what the wink meant, Edward's friends and family returned from their excursions. Alice had a small conversation with Angela while Emmett handed me a paper bag and a drink, and I followed all of them back into Edward's room.

I sat in the corner of the room so I could eat my dinner and rejoined them once I had finished.

We sat around the room with light conversations flowing between us.

Angela and another nurse, whose scrubs were excessively tight and couldn't stop staring at Edward, came in to tell us visiting hours were over for the night and everyone could come back tomorrow. Angela told us two people could stay with Edward tonight, which is when Alice informed us that she had already packed a bag for her and me to stay with Edward tonight. To say I was surprised would be an understatement; I was flabbergasted! She did not even ask me…of course I most likely would have said yes. She still could have given me some warning so I could prepare myself to spend the night with Edward. Granted we will not be alone together, but still she could have warned me!

After we said goodbye to everyone, Alice went to the pile of bags in the corner and handed me one. "I packed your bag of toiletries as well as some pajamas and something to wear for tomorrow."

I mumbled a quick "thanks" and went into the bathroom to change. I opened the bag and found my bag of toiletries and a towel. I decided on a quick shower before changing into pajamas. After my shower, I went back to the bag and looked for whatever Alice packed for pajamas. I found a rolled up white shirt that had some writing on it and I pulled it out.

Rolled into the shirt were blue plaid, flannel, pajama shorts, underwear, and royal blue slipper socks. None of those things was the cause of my almost-mini-freak-out…it was what Alice gave me as a shirt to wear for pajamas. It was a baseball jersey with blue sleeves. The front of it said "Cullen Baseball" and the back had Edward's name on it. _I cannot believe she gave me Edward's shirt to wear!_ I brushed my teeth, put on the "pajamas", and left the bathroom ready to kill Alice.

What I saw when I opened the door stopped me dead in my tracks…Edward shirtless. His flannel pajama pants were sitting low on his hips; he had his back to me while using his left hand to search through a bag on his bed, his right hand holding his IV drip; I could see the muscles in his back ripple as he searched. He turned to me with a t-shirt in his hand. His body seemed to freeze, but his eyes looked me up and down before settling on my shirt and his head cocked to the side in confusion. Without my permission, a deep blush spread across my face.

"Alice, when did you have time to order another jersey for Bella?" His eyes stayed on me even as he spoke to his sister.

Alice, whom I didn't even remember existed, did not even look up from the magazine she was flipping through and replied to her brother's question, "I ordered one this morning, but it won't arrive until the end of the week. She is wearing yours."

Realization flashed across his face before changing into a beautiful crooked smile.

"Sorry, it was the only thing in the bag Alice gave me." As I apologized, he slowly walked over to me until he was standing directly in front of me. He pulled on the end of my shirt – his shirt, before speaking.

"Don't be, I personally think my shirt looks a lot better on you than it ever will on me." He let go of the shirt and walked around me heading into the bathroom. I was too stunned to move.

"Wow." I finally broke out of my Edward-induced-haze to look at Alice, who looked almost as stunned as I did.

"What do you mean 'wow'? Why did you give me his shirt?"

"I just wanted to see what he would do. He hates when people wear his clothes and I wondered if seeing you in his shirt would get a different reaction out of him; boy did it."

"What would you have done if he did get mad?"

"Oh, don't worry about that. I brought you an extra shirt in case he did get mad, but it looks like you will not need it." She was now sporting a smug smile as she danced over to a second bed that was now in the room. I guess it pays to be a child of Dr. Carlisle Cullen.

Alice was setting up pillows when I noticed writing on the back of her shorts: _Property of Jasper Whitlock Hale._ I chuckled at the thought and Alice turned to look at me with an amused expression.

"I guess we are both wearing clothes with our men's names on them." That sobered me up.

"He is not my man Alice." She turned around and went back to her pillows.

"Yet," she mumbled just as Edward walked out of the bathroom.

"Alice you have them too?"

I looked at Edward, who unfortunately had put a shirt on, "What?"

He turned to me, "The boxers; Jasper has a pair with her name on them too: _Property of Mary Alice Cullen_."

"And why, pray tell, were you checking out Jazz's heiny?" Alice was now facing Edward with her hand on her hips and a hitched eyebrow.

"I wasn't 'checking out Jazz's heiny' as you so elegantly put it. When you see words you read them, it's a natural thing to do." It is true, I mean, we did just both do that to Alice's 'heiny'. "Maybe if Jasper stopped walking around in his boxers in the morning there would be no heiny and therefore no words for me to see." Edward met her stance with one of his own, towering over her and her four-foot-ten stature.

I could not take the staring, neither one of them seemed willing to back down. I had to break the silence it was driving me crazy. "So who's ready to sleep? I know I sure am." I faked a yawn and both their gazes shifted to me with matching incredulity. I was a terrible liar. I shrugged my shoulders and crawled into the bed that had been brought in.

Edward's gaze shifted once again to look at his sister, "Alice, how did you get this bed in here?"

"I just told them that someone else and I would be sleeping in the room of Dr. Cullen's son and they suggested they bring in an extra bed for us to sleep on." Alice's smile was too innocent.

"Yeah or you scared them half to death." Edward mumbled as he moved to get into his bed. I covered my mouth to stifle a giggle, but I am pretty sure I failed because Edward flashed me a small smile as he got into bed.

"I heard that mister."

"Good night Tinker Bell."

"Good night Simba."

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**A.N.:** This is the longest chapter...so far, over 3,700 words.

Now you know who Ayden is and soon you will know what is wrong with him and you will meet him.

Alice's dreaming ability just kind of wrote itself in this chapter, I had no original plans for it, but now that it is there I really like it.

I do not really know whose point of view I am going to do the next chapter in, so if you have any requests or suggestions please do not hesitate.

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YAY! The story got to 100 reviews! :D


	16. Preview: Chapter 16 EPOV

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the _Twilight _series, nor do I own the_ Twilight_ characters.

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**Please read author's note on the bottom.**

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**Edward POV**

Alice was reading some magazine while I looked through the bag she packed for me for a shirt when I heard the door to the bathroom open.

I finally found a shirt and turned to go into the bathroom, but what I saw made me freeze. Bella was standing in front of the bathroom door wearing a small pair of shorts and a baseball jersey. I could not stop my eyes from looking over her and noticed her cheeks fill with color. She is so beautiful when she blushes. It was not until right at that moment that I realized what jersey she was wearing.

"Alice, when did you have time to order another jersey for Bella?" Although I was speaking to Alice, my eyes remained on the beauty before me.

"I ordered one this morning, but it won't arrive until the end of the week. She is wearing yours." Normally I hated when people wore my clothes. I usually found it rather annoying, but seeing Bella in _my_ jersey caused me to have a very different reaction and my face broke out into a large smile.

"Sorry, it was the only thing in the bag Alice gave me." As she apologized, my feet began moving me towards her on their own accord until I was standing directly in front of her.

I tugged on the end of my shirt that she was wearing, "Don't be, I personally think my shirt looks a lot better on you than it ever will on me." _Better than anyone_, I thought as I moved around her and headed into the bathroom. I needed to get away from her before I did something rash.

As I brushed my teeth and injected the insulin, my mind wandered to Bella. She is unlike anyone I have ever met before. A mere thirty-six hours and it seems she is already apart of the family. I know my parents love her and Alice is beginning to treat her like a sister. She even stayed with me today in the hospital, I'm sure she had better things to do than sit alone in an uncomfortable hospital chair while waiting for someone you barely know to wake up. As much as I enjoy her presence, I worried about her reaction to Alice's 'dreams'. Would she think Alice was lying? Would she write Alice off as crazy and never speak to her again?

I pulled on my shirt and left the bathroom. Sure enough, the jersey Bella was wearing had my name on it, and then my eyes shifted to Alice or more to what she was wearing.

"Alice you have them too?" She was sporting boxers with _Property of Jasper Whitlock Hale_ on them.

"What?" Bella asked as she turned to face me and I focused on her as I answered her question.

"The boxers; Jasper has a pair with her name on them too: _Property of Mary Alice Cullen_."

Alice turned to me with her hands on her hips and a hitched eyebrow, "And why, pray tell, were you checking out Jazz's heiny?" My sister is ridiculous.

"I wasn't 'checking out Jazz's heiny' as you so elegantly put it. When you see words you read them, it is a natural thing to do. Maybe if Jasper stopped walking around in his boxers in the morning there would be no heiny and therefore no words for me to see." I towered over her as I responded to her accusations.

Alice and I continued to stare each other down until Bella's soft voice broke in, "So who's ready to sleep? I know I sure am." She yawned, which looked and sounded incredibly fake, making Alice and I shifted our gazes over to her, both wearing looks of skepticism. She shrugged and crawled into the bed that had been brought in earlier which brought back an earlier question and I once again looked to the sprite I call my sister.

"Alice, how did you get this bed in here?"

She smiled innocently and replied, "I just told them that someone else and I would be sleeping in the room of Dr. Cullen's son and they suggested they bring in an extra bed for us to sleep on." I knew better than to believe she could ever be innocent.

"Yeah or you scared them half to death." I mumbled as I moved towards my bed. Bella must have heard me because she stifled a small giggle and I flashed her a smile as I lied down.

"I heard that mister." Of course Alice did.

"Good night Tinker Bell."

"Good night Simba." Bella stifled another laugh and pulled the covers over her and Alice.

It was not long before I heard Alice's soft snoring and Bella's deep breathing. I turned my head to look at them as Bella rolled onto her side facing me and mumbled a few words. Her mouth lifted beginning to form a small smile and I clearly heard the next thing she said…

"Edward…"

"Bella?" I called her name thinking she had awoken, but she just shifted closer to the edge of the bed. She was still sleeping. Was she dreaming about me? This beautiful angel was smiling and saying my name as she slept. I kept my eyes on her as I fell asleep smiling.

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**AN:** This is just a preview of the next chapter. I am currently working on the actual chapter 16, what you have just read is actually the beginning of the chapter.

I am so sorry I am taking so long to write this chapter. My keyboard died and I am currently using a really dinky one, then on top of that I had the essay portion of my midterms last week. I will try to finish chapter 16 as soon as possible.

I think I know how to get to the next event in this story, the only problm is I'm not sure which POVs to do those chapters in. So if there is a POV that you would like to read let me know so I can speed up the writing of the next few chapters.


	17. Chapter 16 EPOV

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the _Twilight_ series, nor do I ow the _Twilight_ characters.

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**AN: The beginning of this chapter is the preview, so if you do not wish to read it again skip ahead until the next line break/horizontal ruler.**

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**Edward POV**

Alice was reading some magazine while I looked through the bag she packed for me for a shirt when I heard the door to the bathroom open.

I finally found a shirt and turned to go into the bathroom, but what I saw made me freeze. Bella was standing in front of the bathroom door wearing a small pair of shorts and a baseball jersey. I could not stop my eyes from looking over her and noticed her cheeks fill with color. She is so beautiful when she blushes. It was not until right at that moment that I realized what jersey she was wearing.

"Alice, when did you have time to order another jersey for Bella?" Although I was speaking to Alice, my eyes remained on the beauty before me.

"I ordered one this morning, but it won't arrive until the end of the week. She is wearing yours." Normally I hated when people wore my clothes. I usually found it rather annoying, but seeing Bella in _my_ jersey caused me to have a very different reaction and my face broke out into a large smile.

"Sorry, it was the only thing in the bag Alice gave me." As she apologized, my feet began moving me towards her on their own accord until I was standing directly in front of her.

I tugged on the end of my shirt that she was wearing, "Don't be, I personally think my shirt looks a lot better on you than it ever will on me." _Better than anyone_, I thought as I moved around her and headed into the bathroom. I needed to get away from her before I did something rash.

As I brushed my teeth and injected the insulin, my mind wandered to Bella. She is unlike anyone I have ever met before. A mere thirty-six hours and it seems she is already apart of the family. I know my parents love her and Alice is beginning to treat her like a sister. She even stayed with me today in the hospital, I'm sure she had better things to do than sit alone in an uncomfortable hospital chair while waiting for someone you barely know to wake up. As much as I enjoy her presence, I worried about her reaction to Alice's 'dreams'. Would she think Alice was lying? Would she write Alice off as crazy and never speak to her again?

I pulled on my shirt and left the bathroom. Sure enough, the jersey Bella was wearing had my name on it, and then my eyes shifted to Alice or more to what she was wearing.

"Alice you have them too?" She was sporting a pair of boxers with _Property of Jasper Whitlock Hale_ on them.

"What?" Bella asked as she turned to face me and I focused on her as I answered her question.

"The boxers; Jasper has a pair with her name on them too: _Property of Mary Alice Cullen_."

Alice turned to me with her hands on her hips and a hitched eyebrow, "And why, pray tell, were you checking out Jazz's heiny?" My sister is ridiculous.

"I wasn't 'checking out Jazz's heiny' as you so elegantly put it. When you see words you read them, it is a natural thing to do. Maybe if Jasper stopped walking around in his boxers in the morning there would be no heiny and therefore no words for me to see." I towered over her as I responded to her accusations.

Alice and I continued to stare each other down until Bella's soft voice broke in, "So who's ready to sleep? I know I sure am." She yawned, which looked and sounded incredibly fake, making Alice and I shifted our gazes over to her, both wearing looks of skepticism. She shrugged and crawled into the bed that had been brought in earlier which brought back an earlier question and I once again looked to the sprite I call my sister.

"Alice, how did you get this bed in here?"

She smiled innocently and replied, "I just told them that someone else and I would be sleeping in the room of Dr. Cullen's son and they suggested they bring in an extra bed for us to sleep on." I knew better than to believe she could ever be innocent.

"Yeah or you scared them half to death." I mumbled as I moved towards my bed. Bella must have heard me because she stifled a small giggle and I flashed her a smile as I lied down.

"I heard that mister." Of course Alice did.

"Good night Tinker Bell."

"Good night Simba." Bella stifled another laugh and pulled the covers over her and Alice.

It was not long before I heard Alice's soft snoring and Bella's deep breathing. I turned my head to look at them as Bella rolled onto her side facing me and mumbled a few words. Her mouth lifted beginning to form a small smile and I clearly heard the next thing she said…

"Edward…"

"Bella?" I called her name thinking she had awoken, but she just shifted closer to the edge of the bed. She was still sleeping. Was she dreaming about me? This beautiful angel was smiling and saying my name as she slept. I kept my eyes on her as I fell asleep smiling.

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It was now Tuesday afternoon and I was making sure I had everything in my bag since the hospital was discharging me. Dr. Costanza had me stay yesterday just to make sure I would be able to handle giving myself the insulin shots and could follow the new diet they put me on.

I was folding up my pajamas when Alice walked into the room, "She knows." I waited for her to say more, but all she did was sit down on the bed, leaving me completely confused. I hate it when she gets cryptic.

"What and who are you talking about?"

"Bella" She looked at me as if it was obvious and I was the one who needed psychiatric help.

"I can't read minds Ali, what does Bella know and should I be worried?" Alice stared at me while tapping n her forehead. She usually only does that when she refers to her dreams…I froze mid-fold. _Please do not tell me what I think you are telling me._ If she told Bella about her dreams, and Bella did not believe her, or worse thought she was crazy, Alice will be crushed…although she looks fine. Maybe she is talking about something else, but then where is Bella?

"I told her on Sunday when we were waiting for your diagnosis. We were sitting in dad's office and she asked me to explain something I had said earlier. That is when I told her about my dreams. There is just something about her that makes me trust her completely, maybe it's because she was in a few dreams or–" Now she was rambling and I really had to cut her off.

"Wait, you told her on Sunday, when you got here?" I asked just to be sure.

"Yup"

"But…she was still here on Sunday and yesterday. She was talking and joking with you." We have always worried what people would think, then here comes Bella who apparently has known for three days and she is still treating Alice like it is something that everyone can do. That woman is amazing.

"Yeah, she thinks it's pretty cool actually."

"Really? Wow. Hold on…did you say 'she was in a few dreams'? Have you been dreaming about Bella?"

"Well yeah, I have had a few. She was in the dream I had of you coming to the hospital. She was sitting with us in dad's office, just like reality on Sunday."

"You couldn't give me warning that I would end up in the hospital?" Maybe I could have packed my own bag and it would have included some things other than clothes. "You said a few dreams Alice, what were the others about?" Unfortunately, for me, my family chose that moment to walk into the room.

"Alright Edward, we signed you out and Emmett brought the car around. Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah dad, let's go." I grabbed my bag and Alice got off the bed, and we followed everyone out of the room and down the hall.

"Where did Bella go?" I tried to ask this as casually as I could, but from the looks both Alice and my mom shot me, I do not think I succeeded.

"Oh she just went to talk to Angela. I think those two are really becoming friends." I guess I sounded casual enough for my dad.

When we got to the nurses station to get Bell, her and Angela were laughing at something. Bella had her head thrown back and her eyes were tearing from mirth. She really was beautiful.

I was brought out of my thoughts when Alice poked my arm before she skipped over to the nurses' station.

"Hi Angela; we are leaving now Bella."

"Oh, okay." Bella then turned back to Angela, "I guess I'll see you later Angela. I'll call you next week and we can set up some time to go to that bookstore."

"Sure thing Bella. Bye Cullens." We waved to Angela and walked out of the hospital.

Once we got outside I inhaled deeply, it had been two days since I have been outside. That hospital smell can really get to you.

When we got back to my parents house, I put my stuff in my room and met everyone, minus parents, in the living room. Jasper was on the armchair with Alice on his lap, and Rose and Emmett were lounging o the loveseat, so I took my seat on the sofa next to Bella. Due to my staring, I noticed she smiled a bit when I sat down.

"All right, since we lost two days…" She stopped to look at me, more like glare. Is she actually blaming me?

"Gee Alice; I'm sorry my pancreas tried to kill me." I folded my arms across my chest and glared at my little sister, _unbelievable_. I noticed Bella's eyes flicker over to me before returning her attention to Alice.

Alice simply smiled, "its okay dear brother, you didn't know. Besides, I should have anticipated it would happen this week when we met Bella on Saturday. We will just have to reschedule our shopping trip for tomorrow. In the mean time, what should we do for the rest of today?"

"Um…well…we could always play games?" Bella spoke so low, I think she was trying not to be heard…but Alice did anyway.

"Video, board, or card?"

Bella's voice gained more confidence with her response, "We could alternate between card and video. Those of us who aren't playing video games can play cards and we can rotate so no one gets bored."

"That is a fantastic idea, Bella!" By now, Alice was bouncing in her seat on Jasper's lap. "Emmett, you set up the games and Rose, you get the cards. Everyone else, to the den!" At her last statement, she jumped off Jasper's lap and thrust her fist into the air before running into the den.

Jasper, Bella, and I followed Alice to the den at a more normal pace, while Emmett ran ahead to set up the Xbox and the Wii, and Rose went in search of cards.

Once we got to the den, Alice made us rearrange the furniture so there was a sofa in front of the big screen as well as an area behind it to play cards.

Emmett and Jasper decided to play Halo, while the rest of us settled on a game of squares. I was teamed with Rosalie, and Alice and Bella were a team.

"Can I ask you guys a question?"

'Sure Bella, what's up?" Now we were playing bullshit and Alice looked like she was arranging her cards when she answered.

"Well…are you guys on vacation or something, what do you do?"

"Yeah actually we are on vacation. I am a fashion designer, so I do not really have set hours. Jasper is studying for his master's in history and Rose is studying for her master's in mechanical engineering, they have spring break right now. Edward is a music composer and a piano teacher."

Bella turned to me, "you can play the piano? You must be good to be able to compose your own music." She looked at me in awe; _it is just the piano_.

"Yes I can, I'll play for you some time."

"Yeah, yeah, Edward can play the piano. He better be god, he's been playing since he was like five." Alice smirked at me. "Anyway, Emmett owns a few gyms and runs Rose's garage, so he just closed up the garage for the week and let the managers handle the gyms."

"Why does it not surprise me that Emmett owns a gym?"

"So Bella, what about you; what do you do?" I was shocked that Rose was actually taking any interests in someone else's life.

"I'm a writer." By her blush, I could tell this embarrassed her. I do not know why, that is pretty interesting…unless she cannot get anything published.

"Anything we might know?" I really hope I was the only one who noticed Rosalie's patronizing.

"Um…well…I wrote _Strangers in a Bookstore_. I don't know if any of you have heard it."

"You wrote _Strangers in a Bookstore_?" Rose was leaning over our makeshift circle staring at Bella.

"Yes, I did. Have you read it?" I knew Bella found Rosalie to be intimidating, by the way her voice shook.

"Have I read it? Are you kidding me? I _love_ that book."

The games were abandoned as we listened to Bella tell us about her book. That was the remainder of our night until Alice forced us into bed, so we could be ready for tomorrow's shopping trip. She said, and I quote "if any on wakes up later than seven in the morning you will be taking away from precious shopping time. If that happens I will _not_ be happy."

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**AN:** This is the full chapter 16. sweet16994 wanted Edward's POV so that is where this chapter came from. The next chapter will be 'shopping with Alice' and you can't have shopping and not be in Bella's POV. So chapter 17 will be in Bella's POV. I will try to get it out by Christmas, if not Merry Christmas. :D

I totally made up _Strangers in a Bookstore_ so maybe when I finish this story I can turn that into a fanfiction.


	18. Chapter 17 BPOV

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the _Twilight_ series, nor do I own the _Twilight_ characters.

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**Bella POV**

A mini earthquake on my bed awakened me. "Wake up Honey Bun!"

"God Alice, if I knew you were going to repeatedly wake me up this early, I would have stayed home."

"You don't mean that." She had the saddest look I have ever seen and I instantly felt guilty, but at least the jumping stopped.

"Give me ten more minutes and I promise to get out of bed without complaint…deal?"

"Deal," she jumped off my bed and began to run out the door, "but not a minute longer!"

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"Bella…Bella…" There is no way my ten minutes have passed. "Bella…Bella…" That is not Alice's voice. "Bella…" I faced the voice and opened my eyes slowly. Instead of seeing the blue eyes and black hair, I was met with green eyes and bronze hair.

My eyes grew wide and I shot up into a sitting position. "You're not Alice." Did I seriously just accuse him of not being Alice?

"No," he was sitting at the end of my bed chuckling, "But Alice did send me in here to try and wake you up."

"Of course she did," I mumbled as I got up to pick out some clothes for the day.

"What was that?" Edward was now lying down on my bed, where he looked really good and really comfortable.

"Nothing, where is little Alice?"

"I think she is trying to wake up Emmett, of course you probably know first hand how hard that can be."

I cringed from memories, "Unfortunately, I do." When I turned around, I noticed that Edward had planted himself on my pillow and looked to be falling back asleep. "Oh no, uh-uh, if I have to be up, then so do you." I pushed him out the door of my room and towards his. "Go take a shower before Alice comes back to attack us."

"Yes ma'am." He saluted me before walking into his room.

…

Once I was ready, I walked downstairs and into the kitchen, only to be attacked by something small.

"Yippee, Bella is ready!" I looked down and realized the small thing was in fact Alice. "Now we just have to wait for Emmett."

"Alice, let the girl go so she can eat some breakfast." I think Rosalie is actually starting to like me a bit.

I put some waffles on a plate and sat down in the empty chair next to Edward. "Did you tell Emmett there was food? If he knows there is food he should get up."

"I'll go!" Alice yelled over her shoulder as she ran out of the kitchen,

"Alice –"

"Let her go Jasper. If she lets out some energy now she might be less hyper when we get to the mall." Rosalie looked so serious just now, _what did I get myself into? She cannot be that bad…can she?_

Edward must have seen the look on my face, "Don't worry; I'll protect you from hyper Ali."

A nervous chuckle was the best response I could give him. I was still worrying about shopping with Alice. They make it sound so dangerous.

A loud thump and a muffled "Emmett" broke through my thoughts.

"Emmett's awake."

"Was that Alice? So you think she is all right?" Why am I the only one worried about Alice?

"She's fine, Emmett would never–" Edward was interrupted be a giggling Alice who had situated herself on Emmett's back.

"Morning all – ooh waffles!" Emmett dropped Alice on an expecting Jasper and filled his plate with waffles and syrup. He plopped down in the seat next to Rosalie, kissing her cheek before focusing all his attention on his waffle mountain.

"We will be leaving once Emmett finishes eating. So if you aren't ready, get ready."

When I finished eating, I went upstairs to get my bag and met everyone by the door.

We were piling into Esme's minivan when Emmett started to ask questions, "Why are we taking the minivan? Why can we not take my jeep? Why are we even going shopping anyway, did we not go on Saturday? Is there–"

"Emmett, will you shut up already? We need to take the minivan so we can all fit. Your 'precious jeep' does not fit all of us and if we all went in your jeep, then where will we put our purchases? Yes, we did go shopping on Saturday, but that was only to get Edward out of the house so we could trick him into seeing Esme. Now we are going shopping to shop. Furthermore, if I hear one more peep out of you during the remainder of the drive to the mall, I will come back there and –"

"Alice!" We screamed her name to stop her before she said something that would give us a visual we did not want to see, while Alice just huffed in the passenger's seat.

"I knew I should have driven myself." Edward whispered to me, probably not wanting Alice to hear.

"Didn't you ride with them down here?" I whispered back.

"Yeah" I felt like I was missing something. "Rosalie likes to fix up cars and I like to collect them. All those cars sit in my parents' garage, so I would have had a variety to choose from. Besides, it would have given you and me the chance to leave whenever we wanted." He grinned and winked at me with his last sentence.

"Oh" was all I could manage as a reply. Does that mean he wants to spend time alone with me?

Jasper parked the van near the food court in case Edward needed to come back to the car for an insulin shot. Edward helped me out, and we all began our trek across the parking lot to the entrance of the mall. Although Edward let go of my hand once I was safely on the ground, he remained close to me and I could not help but smile at the thought that maybe there is something here.

When we got in, we had to drag Emmett away from the food court…literally. "Emmett we just ate, you can wait until lunch."

"Please, just one cinnamon bun from Cinnabon, please. I promise to wait until lunch, if you just let me have my Cinnabon, please." Emmett was in front of us, on his knees begging.

"Emmett, get off the floor and go get your damn Cinnabon, but we are not waiting for you to finish. You can eat while walking."

"Thank you Rosie, you know I love you." Emmett kissed her cheek and ran off in search of a Cinnabon.

"Rose you are marrying an overgrown kid, how do you put up with it?" Edward asked her from beside me.

"I put up with it because I love him. When you love someone you are going to put up with all of their strange habits just like they will put up with yours." At the end, she winked at me, "Right Bella?" Hold on, is she talking about Edward and me?

Luckily, I did not have t answer because Emmett came back with his cinnamon bun causing Rose to return her attention to him.

Alice had dragged us into store after store where I was pushed into dressing room after dressing room.

We had passed through a particularly crowded hallway where we were having a hard tie sticking together, causing Edward to grab my hand. His hands were so warm and surprisingly soft. When I looked at him in question, he merely shrugged his shoulders and said, "I don't want to lose you."

Edward kept a firm grip on my hand even when we were past the crowd, not that I minded. The only times he let go of my hands were when Alice pushed me into a dressing room, despite my numerous protests, but he just reached for my hand again as soon as I walked out. Of course, none of this went unnoticed by our group. There were more than a few times when I saw Alice smile at us while Emmett glared at Edward.

"Okay girls, our next stop is Victoria's Secret. Edward let go of Bella and you guys go do whatever it is you do." Alice pulled Rose and me into Victoria's Secret and I was only able to get one more glance in Edward's direction before the guys were out of sight. I did not have long to be disappointed because my cell phone vibrated signaling a text message.

_I know I promised to_

_protect you, but VS_

_is something no one_

_can protect you from._

_-Sorry, Edward_

"So Bella, is there something going on between you and Edward that you would like to tell us about?"

"There is nothing to tell Alice."

"Oh please Bella, do you really think we didn't notice the way he held your hand like it was his lifeline?" Rose looked skeptical.

"He just didn't want me to get lost."

"Are you kidding? Please don't tell me my brother actually used a line like that on you." Alice looked desperate for me to tell them he did not say that, but I really did not see the harm in it.

"He did say it. The hallway was crowded and people kept pushing me." I was starting to get defensive while Alice looked disappointed; whether it was in Edward or me, I am not sure.

"I cannot believe he is really that retarded." Alice had her head bowed in shame.

"Bella, even if that were the only reason, why would he continue to hold your end when we separated from the crowd or when we were inside stores?" Rose made a good point. Did Edward hold my hand because he wanted to?

"Because he wanted to hold my hand?" My uncertainty made it sound like a question.

"Finally, she sees the light," Alice announced throwing up her hands and causing a few other women to stare at us. She put her hands back down and continued in a much softer tone, "He likes you Bella, I think this is just his way of showing you without causing you to freak out. Now come on, we only have a certain amount of time allowed in here before the boys start to get antsy."

"Plus the way Emmett was looking at your clasped hands, I don't think we should leave them alone for too long." I froze at Rose's words.

"You noticed that and you allowed them to go off alone? How could you do that? Emmett will kill him." I know my voice sounded desperate, but I was beyond caring. I was far to worried about Edward's safety.

"Relax Bella, Emmett wouldn't really hurt him…he might just scare Edward from ever touching you again."

"Oh and that is so much better?" I asked sarcastically.

"Actually Bella it is. If Emmett hurts Edward then he will never touch you, but if he just scares Edward then Edward will just wait until Emmett isn't around." Alice then proceeded to drag me around the store picking out undergarments to match the new clothes bought for me.

"Alice I don't need all this stuff," I had resorted to whining, hoping it would work.

"Don't bother, once Alice gets something into her head to do something there is no stopping her." Well of course, Rosalie did not care; she was allowed to pick out her own stuff.

"Bella of course you need this stuff. Everyone does. Don't forget to reply to Edward's text, you can tell him we are just going to pay and be right out." I stared at her slack-jawed, how did she know? She is Alice _that_ is how she knew.

_Its okay. Alice says_

_to tell you we are_

_going to pay and we_

_will be right out._

_-Bella_

We were finally able to get out of the store and meet back up with the guys. When we reached them, Edward once again reached for my hand as Jasper announced he was hungry.

We arrived at the food court when Edward turned to me, "Can you get me a slice of pizza? I'll be right back."

"Sure" before I could ask him where he was going, Edward walked out the doors of the mall. I guess he had to give himself a shot of insulin.

We were seated at one of the big round tables waiting for Edward to come back when some blond guy showed up at our table and started talking to me, "Hey Hot Stuff is this seat taken?"

"Yes, actually it is." He smelled like cigarettes and his face was excessively too close for comfort.

"Oh is your boyfriend sitting here? Is that why you don't want me to sit here?" He started inching even closer to me and I was just about to tell him off when suddenly…

"Yes, actually it is." Edward lightly shoved the guy out of his way and took his seat next to me. "Sorry I took so long, dear." Edward pecked my cheek before glaring at our unwelcome guest.

When he had left, Edward turned back to me with his face showing true concern, "Are you okay Bella?"

"Um, yeah, thanks." I was still in shock from Edward's declaration and the tingly feeling on my cheek from his kiss.

"Good," Edward said then began to eat his pizza. I looked around the table, but no one else seemed to notice that anything had happened.

_Get a hold of yourself Bella; it was just an act,_ I tried to tell myself, but even I was not fully convinced that was all it was.

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**AN:** **MERRY CHRISTMAS, HAPPY FIFTH**?** DAY OF HANUKKAH, AND AN EARLY HAPPY KWANZAA!!** (whatever you celebrate and if you don't then **HAPPY THURSDAY AND EARLY FRIDAY!!**) I will try to update before New Years. but if I don't make it **HAPPY NEW YEAR!!**

So Emmett did have a little chat with Edward and I will post that...I just don't know when.

******Don't forget I have midterms from January 9 through January 14 or 15 and I will not update then. In the meantime I have two study packets that need to be completed before the 12th and an essay/letter by the 5th. I hate school.


	19. Chapter 18 EmPOV

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the _Twilight_ series, nor do I own the _Twilight_ characters.

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**D**ecide that you want it more than you are afraid of it.

**-**Bill Cosby

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**Emmett POV**

I noticed Edward and Bella were getting closer and the big brother feelings I had for Bella when we were younger were starting to kick in again. I had always felt that it was my job to protect her, even if that meant form one of my best friends. I could not let Edward hurt her, whether he meant to or not.

Then I saw them holding hands and I knew I had to do something immediately. Therefore, when the girls went into Victoria's Secret, I took that as my chance to have a man-to-man with Edward…Jasper was with us too.

Edward was texting someone and the smile on his face made me believe it was Bella.

"So Edward…what do you think of Bella?" I started casually; I did not want to scare him…yet.

"She's sweet, pretty and so smart too. She is just so…so…perfect. Em, she is absolutely perfect." He finished with a goofy smile on his face. I am not sure if that will make my job easier or harder.

"Listen Ed, I know you like her. The thing is, she is kind of like my little sister and I have this need to protect her…even if that means from you; just like you would protect Ali from Jasper if you had to. So what I guess I'm trying to say is…" I got really close so I could tower over him, "if you hurt her I _will not_ hesitate to break a few bones." He swallowed hard, but otherwise remained composed.

"I don't plan to, but if I do hurt her, which is completely hypothetical…I would _gladly_ turn myself in." I do not think I need to worry about him. "That is, if she'll even have me." I think he was talking to himself with that last sentence because it was merely a barely audible whisper.

"Don't worry kid, she likes you. That's what had me so worried in the first place."

"What do you mean?"

"I though maybe her feelings for you were stronger than yours are for her."

"Impossible." There he goes with the whispering again.

Now onto more important things…"So Jazz, you hungry yet?"

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**AN:** I know it's just another mini-chapter, but it shows the bond between Emmett and Bella, and some of what Edward feels. I am still working on the next chapter and since this was already finished I figure I should publish it now and not wait any longer.

The next chapter is in Bella's point of view and there is some actual conversation between her and Edward. It will also include Edward in a suit. ;)

I will also have some links to pictures on my profile when I put up the next chapter.

**HAPPY EARLY NEW YEAR!! :D**

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**PREVIEW**

"Okay, so full name?"

"Edward Anthony Masen Cullen"

"That's a mouth full."

"I know, after my mom died my dad had my name legally changed to add Masen as a sort of second middle name. Masen was my mom's maiden name. What about you, what is your full name?"

"Isabella Marie Swan"

"Marie?"

"Marie was my grandmother's name. She was really great." I turned to look out the window. "I miss her," I added quietly.


	20. Chapter 19 BPOV

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the _Twilight_ series, nor do I own the _Twilight_ characters.

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**Author's note at the end is very important.

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**Bella POV**

For some reason Alice felt the need to go to a fancy restaurant for dinner. This meant I currently found myself stuck in a chair in the bathroom while Alice and Rosalie played 'Bella Barbie'.

"Ow!"

"Hold still Bella!"

"Alice, how can I – ow – hold still when you are – ow – pulling my hair?"

"Well if you stopped moving, I would not end up pulling your hair, so…SIT STILL!"

"Bella, there is no beauty without pain, so just suck it up." How would she know, she is naturally gorgeous, _she_ does not have to go through this.

"Okay Bella your hair is done. Rose, can you do her makeup whilst I pick out something for her to wear?"

"Sure thing Alice." Rose put down whatever gossip rag she was reading and contemplated what make-up she was going to paint my face with. "So, have you and Edward made any progress from when we went to the mall?" The look she was giving me told me not to lie.

I sighed, "No. You see us, we still sit next to each other every chance we get, but that's it. Do you think Alice is wrong? Maybe he does not like me like you guys thought."

"He likes you Bella. Remember when we talked about things Emmett might do?"

"Oh no, what did Emmett do? I'll kill him."

"Relax Bella, before you go attacking Emmett, you should know all they did was talk. Emmett did not lay a finger on him; he is really rooting for you two."

"But Rose, I'm a grown woman and I know how to take care of myself," I told her defiantly.

"You are like his little sister Bella, and he just wants to protect you from everything possible…even if that now means protecting you from his best friend. Just cut Emmett some slack." I though about what Rose was saying. I had always seen Emmett as my big brother, at least when we were little, I guess trying to protect their little sisters is just something big brothers do. "Okay Bella, your makeup is done."

"Oh, good because I just found the perfect dress for her to wear." Alice appeared at her bathroom door with a mass of cloth a beautiful green color.

They left me alone in the bathroom so I could change. I put the dress on and looked in the mirror. The dress was beautiful; it was a hunter green with a light yellow ribbon, which went under my bust and at the top of the dress, and tied at the back of my neck. The green looked very close to the color of Edward's eyes.

I walked out of the bathroom and saw both Rose and Alice already dressed. Rosalie was in a red v-neck dress that had a knot at the front under her bust and the dress flowed out to just above her knees. The phrase "drop dead gorgeous" comes to mind. Alice's dress was cute; it was blue and white striped, with a sweetheart neckline, and the top half of the dress was like a corset. If my self-esteem were not already taking a hit by just being in a room with them, it sure was now.

The door opening must have alerted them to my presence because Alice turned around and squealed, "I knew the dress was perfect for you."

"Wow Bella, Edward will definitely have a hard time focusing on anything but you tonight."

"Stop guys, you are making me blush," and they were. "I look nowhere near half as good as you both look."

"Nonsense Bella, we all look beautiful and our men will be drooling when they see us." Alice pulled us out of her room and to the top of the stairs. "Okay I will go down first, then Bella, and Rose last."

"Alice, am I going last because you enjoy making my poor fiancé squirm?" Rose raised a perfect eyebrow and stared at Alice.

"Of course, making Emmett squirm is funny, plus someone needs to be up here to make sure Bella comes down." Alice giggled and turned to the stairs to begin her descent.

"Okay Bella, it's your turn." Rose gave me a gentle nudge to get me moving. If she had not I would probably still be at the top of the stairs.

I slowly walked down the stairs as I kept a close eye on my feet, to keep my self from tripping, and silently cursed the deathtraps Alice and Rose refer to as heels.

When I looked up, I was met with a pair of wide green eyes. I forgot about the heels and instead walked straight to those gorgeous eyes.

"Wow Bells, you look…" Emmett never finished his sentence, which means Rose must have made her appearance. I would not know Edward and I had yet to look away from each other.

"Beautiful, you look beautiful." Of course, Edward's quiet compliment caused a burning in my cheeks; it is a good thing Rose did not put blush on me because I definitely will not b needing it.

I took the opportunity to look Edward over, "You clean up nice." He was wearing a black suit with a hunter green tie that matched my dress perfectly. His hair was still in disarray but looked as though he had taken an effort to tame it, his tie was loose, and the top two buttons of his dress shirt were undone, but I have never seen anyone look better in a suit than Edward Cullen did right now.

"Well I should, considering Alice dressed us." I looked back up at Edward before looking at the other men. Sure enough, Emmett's tie was the exact red as Rose's dress and Jasper's was the exact blue of Alice's.

"All right troops, let's move out." Alice was able to break the daze Edward and I seemed to be in.

Edward raised his eyebrow and turned to Jasper, "Have you been watching war movies with my sister again?"

"She wanted to watch _The Patriot_ again; she said it was in memory of Heath Ledger." He shrugged and walked with Alice out the door.

Edward rolled his eyes and offered me his arm before we followed Alice outside. Sitting in the driveway were two classic cars: a black and red car, and a yellow Mustang. Edward opened the passenger door to the black and red one while Alice and Jasper got in the back, and Rose and Emmett got into the Mustang.

I waited for Edward to get into the driver's seat and start the car before feeding my curiosity, "What kind of car is this?"

"The car we are in is a 1954 Bentley R-Type and the car Rose and Emmett took is a 1967 Shelby Mustang."

"Wow so you really do like to collect cars?"

"Yup, like I told you before, I buy them and Rose fixes them."

We were all silent until my mind came up with another question, "Alice, how were you able to get reservations to this place on such short notice?"

"The owner is a family friend."

"You just want to put me in an uncomfortable position." Edward glared at Alice through the rear view mirror.

"I have to ask, what will be uncomfortable?"

Alice giggled before answering my question, "The owner's wife, Mrs. Cope, has a sort of old lady crush on Edward." Her giggling turned into full-blown laughter despite the fact that Edward continued to glare.

"It also doesn't help Edward that Mrs. Cope worked in the office at our high school," Jasper informed me.

Once Alice's laughter calmed, the remainder of the drive was quiet; I guess we wanted to keep Edward from turning the car around and going back to the house. Well…quiet until I noticed the speed he was going!

"Edward, slow down! What's the rush?!"

"Bella, what's wrong? I always drive like this, that's one of the first things Rose adjusts in cars."

"Can you please slow down?" I was begging and I did not care, as long he slowed down.

He huffed and grimaced but let up on the gas a bit. I let out a sigh of relief and thanked him.

"Wow Bella," Alice sounded truly shocked.

I, on the other hand, was now confused, "What?"

Jasper answered for her, "Edward never slows down…for anyone."

We got to the restaurant and pulled up front to the valet. As soon as Edward was out of the car, he was on my side opening the door for me before the valets even realized there were other passengers in the car. I thanked him, he handed the keys to the valet, and we followed the others inside the restaurant.

Inside the restaurant, we were greeted be a round woman who looked to be in her early sixties. As soon as we had a clear view, Edward moved his hands so they were on my waist as he stood behind me.

"Hi Mrs. Cope"

"Oh my, hello Alice and the Hale twins, it is so nice to see you guys again." Ah, so this is whom Edward is scared of and why he is holding my waist, not that I am complaining. "Oh Edward, is that you? How are you dear?" I think she just batted her eyelashes at him.

"Hello again Mrs. Cope," Edward tried keeping it formal while he hugged me tighter in front of him. That is when her eyes finally flickered to me.

"And who is this lovely woman?" I sensed a bit of hostility from her; Alice was not lying when she said Mrs. Cope had a crush on him.

"Mrs. Cope I'd like you to meet Bella," Edward smiled down at me causing my mind to go fuzzy. "Bella, this is Mrs. Cope. She and her husband are the restaurant owners we told you about."

I turned my attention to the older woman in front of me, "It's a pleasure to meet you Mrs. Cope."

"Yes," her tone was flat and condescending before she returned her ogling eyes to Edward. "Well your table is ready, Martin will escort you."

Edward kept a firm grip on me as we passed Mrs. Cope and followed Martin further into the restaurant.

As soon as we were seated and the server left us, everyone broke out into laughter.

"Edward, did you seriously use Bella as a human shield?" Jasper wiped the tears of mirth from his eyes whilst Edward looked embarrassed and tried to hide behind his menu.

I put my small hand on top of his and leaned in to whisper in his ear, "It is okay Edward, I didn't mind." Although he remained hidden by his menu, his responding smile was breathtaking…literally; I actually had to remind myself to breathe.

Dinner was…interesting. Mrs. Cope came by repeatedly to ask us, well…ask Edward, if everything was all right. I noticed that whenever she stopped by, Edward's chair would be closer to me by the time she walked away. This woman must truly make him uncomfortable.

Once we were outside of the restaurant after our fancy dinner, they decided to switch cars. Now Edward and I were in the Shelby while Emmett, Rose, Alice, and Jasper were in the Bentley, with Rose driving of course.

After Edward helped me into the car and got in, we settled into a comfortable conversation of finding more about each other.

"Okay, so full name?"

"Edward Anthony Masen Cullen"

"That's a mouth full."

"I know, after my mom died, my dad had it legally changed to add Masen as a sort of second middle name. Masen was my mom's maiden name. What about you, what is your full name?"

"Isabella Marie Swan"

"Marie?"

"Marie was my grandmother's name. She was really great." I turned to look out the window. "I miss her," I added quietly.

"May I ask what happened to Grandma Marie?"

"They don't really know. I think she was just heartbroken, my grandfather died about thirty years ago." I turned back to him, "What about you, what happened to Ms. Masen?"

He glanced at me before returning his focus to the road, "Her name was Elizabeth Masen. They, like your grandmother, do not know how she died. They think it might have been a complication of my birth not caught in time. My father blames himself for being a doctor and not noticing a change. Esme tells him that it could have happened to anyone and both his and my mother's sole focus was on me, their new joy in life, so they wouldn't have noticed anything."

"Did you ever resent your mother for not being there?"

"I did for a few months in middle school. There was always sibling rivalry between Alice and me. I became jealous of her because she had her birth mother and I acted out a bit. Esme had a talk with me and I realized essentially Esme _was,_ _is_, my mother. It was never again an issue until a few months ago."

"I heard about that."

"Really?" He sent me a confused and slightly ashamed glance before focusing on the road, more than he needed to.

"Yeah, Esme told me about it in one of our phone chats. She told me she was going to let you cool off while she was at her garden party and you could talk about it later, but when she got back home, you were not there."

"Yeah, I had to get out of there. I didn't think I should be around her after what I had just said, so I went home to sulk for about four months until Alice tricked me into coming here."

I could not prevent my self from asking the next question, "What happened to the girlfriend?"

"Oh her…we broke up a few weeks after the…incident. I did not want to tell anyone she cheated on me because I did not want anyone to try to make me feel guiltier than I was already. Jasper found out because she came to the apartment to try to get me to talk to her but I didn't want to hear it." Although I was sad and angered that she cheated on him, internally I was on cloud nine to learn he was single.

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**AN: **I have some bad news and I know you will hate me, but this will probably be my last update for the month of January. You already know I have the second half of midterms. I have eight classes meaning eight midterms. Then I am taking the SATs on the 24th and I have a math competition on the 31st. I will honestly try to get another chapter out this month, but it is very unlikely. This is what I have planned/written for the story so far so my updates should be faster when I start updating again in February:

- Chapter 20: Edward POV and I know what event that will happen in that chapter but I do not have a full outline for it.

- Chapter 21: Alice POV and it will include one of Alice's dream vision things. I have an outline for the dream and the ending is written.

- Chapter 22: Bella POV; I have an outline for the chapter and the ending is written. (based on what I have so far, this might be the longest chapter)

- Chapter 23: Edward POV; I have the beginning of the chapter written and a partial outline of what happens next.

I have pictures of the dresses and cars on my profile.

I picked the Shelby because my dad had a yellow 1967 shelby with black racing stripes when he was in college. Bella's grandmother story is kind of true for me, it matches my maternal grandmother perfectly but my middle name comes from my paternal grandmother.

I hope you all enjoyed the first week of the new year and I will be back in February.


	21. Chapter 20 EPOV

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the _Twilight_ series, nor do I own the _Twilight_ characters. The first quote is from Edgar A. Guest and the second is from General George S. Patton.

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**Edward POV**

"Morning Mom," I greeted as I walked into the kitchen and pecked her cheek. I noticed Bella standing at the stove next to my mom frying some bacon. I reached around her to reach for some bacon, but was unfortunate enough to be caught by my mother.

"Edward Anthony, you leave Bella alone and go wait at the table with your sister," Esme scolded me and pointed to the table while giving me the don't-test-me look.

"Yes ma'am," I sighed bowing my head in shame and walked to the table while I returned to towel drying my hair. I heard Bella and Alice giggle.

"You are such a Momma's Boy," Alice's giggles became louder with her accusation.

"Shut up Runt," I ruffled her hair triggering a glare and a swift kick to my backside.

"Watch where you kick Alice, you never know when something might retaliate. They don't make heels for casts."

"Kids! I am sure Bella did not come here to see you two fight. Edward, watch what you say and keep your hands to yourself. Alice, put your feet on the floor and keep them there."

"If she can reach it," I mumbled…or so I thought.

"Edward Anthony, did you not hear me? I do not care how old you two get; I will not hesitate to throw you over my knee. Do the two of you understand me?"

"Yes Mom, sorry," Alice and I said together once again bowing our heads in shame. My head shot up when I heard Bella let out even more adorable giggles.

"You two just squashed any doubt I had of you two being related." She must have noticed the curious looks she was getting from both Alice and I, for she was quick to explain, "You look nothing alike, but you have the sibling rivalry down packed and you act more alike than I think you two realize."

"You guys are still fighting, it's like you never grew up." Rose placed her self in the seat next to Alice,

"Says the person who agreed to marry an overgrown child," I shot back at her.

"Just remember who has an extra set of keys to your Volvo."

"You wouldn't"

"Do you really want to test that theory?" We glared at each other, I knew better than to anger Rose but I honestly could not help it this morning.

Bella placed the finished bacon and scrambled eggs in the middle of the table prior to placing her small warm hand on my back. I am glad my father had traded in her cast for an ace bandage and a brace while I was in the hospital; she has more access to her fingers with the brace then with the cast. I instantly felt my body relax and without thinking, my head fell back against her flat stomach.

"You are lucky Esme left to your dad's study to give him his coffee. What's with you this morning?" I closed my eyes as the fingers from her other hand softly ran through my still damp hair, further relaxing me.

"I didn't get much sleep last night and when I finally did, a certain pixie woke me up by jumping on my bed. Then she flushed the toilet while I was in the shower and justified her actions by saying that I was 'taking too long'."

"I'm sorry Edward, if I had known you didn't sleep well last night I wouldn't have woken you up so early." My eyes remained closed, but I could hear the repentant tone in my little sister's voice.

"It's okay Al, but was there a reason you woke me up so early?" I felt Bella stiffen behind me and her hand froze at the top of my neck.

"I'm afraid that's my fault Edward. Alice and I were talking this morning and we decided we wanted to go to the zoo. I have not been there in years and if I knew Alice went to go wake you up, I swear I would have tried t stop her. I'm sorry–" Bella was beginning to ramble so I took hold of the hand that was in my hair and rested our joined hands on my shoulder.

I gave her hand a small squeeze, "If you still want to go I suggest someone go wake up Emmett and Jasper so we could leave." Bella returned the squeeze and I opened my eyes before she pulled away to sit in the chair next to me and began serving herself breakfast.

Rose got up from the table and left the kitchen, I imagine she went to wake up her brother and fiancé. I looked to Alice only to find that she was already looking at me with a smug grin on her face. She winked at me when she caught my gaze then followed Bella's example in serving herself breakfast.

Once everyone had finished breakfast and said goodbye to my parents, we piled into my mother's minivan with Emmett driving us to the zoo. I soon realized I did not mind being a passenger as long as I could sit next to Bella.

Everyone was bouncing in his or her seats from anticipation of going to the zoo. It was weird how excited we were, I mean who would guess that a group of people in their twenties would be excited to go to the zoo?

As soon as Emmett was able to find a parking, he, Bella, and Alice were running towards the zoo's entrance. I took off after Bella worried she would trip like she and Emmett have told us she has done many times. Surprisingly she did not trip; I guess when she stops thinking about it her feet work fine.

By the time Jasper and Rosalie caught up to us, Alice was at the counter buying our tickets; Emmett was leaning over the turnstile trying to see if he can get a glimpse of the animals; Bella was watching the baby chimp and baby gibbon that were in a room in the gift shop viewable from the windows; and I was watching Bella.

"Okay everyone, I got the tickets!" Emmett picked Bella up, literally, before running over to us as Alice handed out our entrance tickets. We proceeded to the zoo entrance and handed out tickets to the zoo worker. Bella somehow managed to trip over the turnstile and I lunged forward to grip her waist before she made contact with the floor.

"Thanks," she mumbled and her cheeks darkened as she regained her footing and I dropped my hold from her.

"So I figured we could split up then meet at the café for lunch. After lunch we can see some of the shows before finishing off with some shopping in the gift shop." With that said Alice seized Jasper's hand and pulled him further into the zoo, while repeating "Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!"

"Ooh bears! Come on Rosie, I want to see some bears!" Rose followed an enthusiastic Emmett, leaving Bella and I alone.

I turned to look at Bella who was chewing her bottom lip. Her full lip that I longed to feel against my own – I knew we had to start speaking otherwise my thoughts would continue down the enjoyable yet inappropriate road they were currently on. "I guess it's just us. What do you want to see first, Bella?"

"Um…what is your favorite animal at the zoo?"

"The lion"

"Okay, so we will see your lion first, then look at the tigers and maybe spend the rest of out time before lunch in the petting zoo?" She made it sound like a question and looked up at me apprehensively, _as if I could ever say 'no' to _her_._ I had only known this girl for a week and I already knew that I would give her anything she asked for, without a moment's hesitation.

"'You are the person who has to decide. Whether you'll do it or toss it aside; you are the person who makes up your mind. Whether you lead or will linger behind. Whether you'll try for the goal that's afar. Or just be contented to stay where you are.'"

"'We heard sheep, we drive cattle, we lead people. Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way.'" Wow, she is impressive. I am surprised she understood what I was doing.

"Shall we go look at the lions then, my dear Isabella?" I asked her in my best British accent while offering her my arm.

"We shall, kind sir," she managed to get out through her giggles as she attached herself to my arm.

Once we arrived at the lions' cage/exhibit/habitat thing, Bella launched herself on the railing, whereas I took the calmer approach and walked over to lean against the rail.

I heard the shutter of Bella's camera while I looked at the lions and allowed my mind to wander to a photograph, a photograph of my mother holding me a few days after my birth. In one arm, she held me, and in the other hand was a stuffed lion toy that was being clutched by my small hands.

A flash seen out of the corner of my eye brought me out of my thought. I quickly turned my head just in time to see Bella lowering the camera.

"Bella, did you just take a picture of me?" her cheeks flamed and her eyes began to dart around looking at everything but me.

"Um…no?" her response sounded more like a question and she cringed from the squeakiness of it before clearing her throat. "So why lions?" I raised an eyebrow at her, but her innocent smile caused me to allow her obvious subject change. I turned back to the lions before answering her question.

"My dad said I was born with a full head of hair resembling a lion's mane and my mother used to call me her 'little lion cub'. Then when the movie _The Lion King_ came out Alice said it made her think of me and began calling me 'Simba'. What about you? Why tigers and why the petting zoo?"

"My mom's favorite animal is the white tiger; I guess it just sort of always stayed with me. As to the petting zoo, my favorite animal is a lamb. Not really sheep but young lambs."

We visited the tigers before going to the petting zoo. Bella made me thing of a little girl receiving her first Barbie Dream House. The bouncing she had been doing when we arrived at the zoo came back at full force; she was tugging on my arm trying to make me go faster before she finally dropped my arm, gave me her bag to hold and carefully jogged the rest of the way to the young animals.

By the time I got to the fence surrounding the petting zoo, Bella already had a cup of food in her hands for the older youngsters. I pulled the camera from her bag and began taking pictures as I moved closer to the fence. While I was taking pictures of Bella and the animals, a woman leaned on the fence next to me.

"The petting zoo always seems to be the best part for the little children." I finally took my eyes off Bella and looked around noticing how many small children there actually were.

"Yeah it seems that way."

"So which child are you here with?" I turned my head to look at her, if she were a mother she was a fairly young mother.

"Oh no, I'm actually not here with any of the children." She looked as though she were about to scream and run for help; I wondered what would make her respond this way. I replayed my sentence in my head and realized it made me sound like a possible child molester. Before I could say anything to try to remedy this situation, Bella called for me and I turned to look at her.

"Edward, come and feed the animals with me." She looked so sweet with the animals surrounding her that I could not stop myself from taking another picture of her.

"That's okay Bella, I think I'll stay out here and continue to take pictures of you."

"Okay," she answered absentmindedly as she turned around to look at the kid that poked her backside with its muzzle. I chuckled and snapped another picture before turning back to the woman next to me. She had visibly relaxed and her face held a small smile.

"How long have you and your girlfriend been together?"

"She's not my girlfriend," I said quietly as I turned back to look at Bella.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to assume, and it is just that by the way you look at her I thought that maybe you two were together." I thought about what she was saying; _is that how we looked to other people? Did I look at Bella how a guy would look at his girlfriend?_ I knew I would not mind being with Bella in that sense, but would she? _There is no way she would like me like that, she is just so…_pure_._ The woman's voice broke through my thoughts.

"Oh dear," I looked up just in time to see Bella slip and land on her rear.

"Bella, are you okay?" she was looking up at me with her knees bent and a small pout that I was tempted to kiss away, instead I took another picture. She opened her mouth and looked as though she were about to say something, when the smallest lamb wobbled up to her and licked her cheek before sitting next to her causing the cutest giggle to escape from Bella. I smiled at her as the woman chuckled and one of the zoo workers handed a bottle to Bella.

I took more pictures as Bella fed and played with the small lamb for the remainder of our time. When the time for lunch came, I said goodbye to the woman and made my way inside to help Bella who had remained on the ground since her fall.

"Come on Bella, it's time to go, we have to meet the others for lunch."

"Okay," she took the camera from my hands and took a close-up picture of her lamb. "Goodbye, my little lamby."

We went to the hand sanitizing station and cleaned up before heading to the café near the entrance of the zoo. She slipped her hand into mine where it stayed as we moved around a group of children heading to the petting zoo.

"Did you enjoy yourself with the animals?"

"Of course I did. That little lamb was so cute and so soft and gentle."

We arrived at the café to see everyone else already there waiting for us.

"It's about time you guys got here. We have been waiting here for ten minutes; you two are seriously putting us behind schedule." I rolled my eyes at my sister, but otherwise ignored her, and turned to Emmett who I realized was looking at Bella's hand in mine. He raised his eyebrows in a silent question to which I shook my head and led everyone inside.

After lunch, we went to a variety of animal shows where Bella took even more pictures and Emmett almost caused us to be kicked out of the flying wonders show. Alice was all too excited to leave the last show since it meant she could shop.

At the gift shop, I left Bella with Alice and Rose and walked toward the stuffed animals in search of something I could get for Bella. There was an abundance of monkeys and reptiles but none of those seemed to fit Bella. When I finally found the perfect purchase, I raced to the register so I could pay before she saw me.

After we all made our purchases we piled into the minivan and set off on our journey home. On the way, Alice and Rosalie were showing off all the things they found, from t-shirts with various animals to a bunch of key chains that they do not have nearly enough keys for.

"Oh," I turned to Bella as she set off rummaging through her gift bag. "I got this for you." A small stuffed lion that was permanently in a sitting position was looking back at me.

"What is this for?"

"I saw it while Alice and Rose were looking at the t-shirts and it made me think of you so I bought it. If you don't like it, its okay you don't have to keep it."

"No I really like it. Whenever I look at it I will be reminded of how much fun I had at the zoo with you." Her smile was bright and I took this chance to reach for my own bag and hand it to her.

"What is this?" she asked as she peered into the bag.

"I saw those and I thought of you." She pulled out the stuffed lamb and the stuffed lion I had bought for her.

"Oh Edward, they're adorable but you know you didn't have to."

"I know Bella, I wanted to."

"Thank you," our gazes locked and remained for a few seconds before the car came to a halt in front of my parent's home.

We all filed into the kitchen where my parents were at the stove making dinner and Alice, Emmett, and Bella launched into a story of our day using the pictures from Bella's camera as visuals. As Alice was telling my parents about Emmett trying to reach for a bird at the flying wonders show, Bella's phone began to ring.

"Hello," whatever the person on the other end of the phone was saying, it could not have been good if it caused Bella's bright smile to fade. "…okay, um, I'll be there as soon as I can get a flight out…no it's okay, don't worry, I want to be there for him…okay, I'll let you know when my flight is…bye." She hung up and turned to my parents, "Something has come up and I need to leave, I'm sorry."

"Of course Bella, call us when you can," my mother reassured her before Bella turned to Alice, but she didn't need to say anything for Alice had answered her before she could open her mouth.

"Don't worry Bella, I'll drive you to the airport and find a way for your truck to get back to your place even if I have to be the one to drive it."

"Thank you Alice," Bella grabbed the stuffed animals I had given her that were sitting on the island next to me, looked at me and gave me one more small smile, and then she was gone.

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**AN:** I'm so sorry this took so long. I didn't realize how hard a trip to the zoo would be to write about. As you probably noticed when you were reading, I gave up when it came to the animal shows.

I had the next chapter already written but when I reread it I realized a lot of it wouldn't work so I am in the process of rewriting it. If you want I could post it as an outtake separate from the story, then any other outtake this story produces will be posted along with it, but that is only if you all want to read it.

As you know from the AN in the previous chapter, the next chapter will be one of Alice's dream-visions and it will partially explain where Bella has gone.

Thank you everyone who wished me luck on my midterms, SAT, and math competition. That was really nice of you. :D

I hope you all had a nice Valentine's Day even if you didn't have a significant other to share it with. I myself spent it at another math competition.


	22. Chapter 21 APOV

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the _Twilight_ series, nor do I own the _Twilight_ characters.

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**Please read the author's note, or at least what is in bold, when you finish reading this chapter.

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**Alice POV**

_The room was a pale yellow. The chair cushions looked thin and the sofa cushions looked hard and stiff. The television was on in the corner of the room showing a soap opera. From the lack of windows and the generic paintings, I knew I was in a hospital waiting room. Being the daughter of a doctor, I also knew it was in a different state._

_I was not in this dream and neither was my family. This must be where Bella had gone. Sure enough, Bella had just walked into the room. She sat cross-legged on one of the thin chairs against the wall, where she remained unmoving and became glassy-eyed while things seemed to be in fast-forward around her._

_A woman who looked very similar to Bella walked in and went up to Bella. Her eyes were red and puffy like she had been crying. She began speaking to Bella so I moved closer to try to see if I could hear what they were saying._

_"Bella, sweetheart you need to eat something?"_

_"I'm not hungry," Bella's eyes had not left the floor in front of her._

_"Fine, but I'll be back."_

_"I'm sure you will," Bella mumbled as the woman left the room._

_The scene seemed to go back into fast-forward mode while Bella remained where she was in the same position as before._

_I do not know how long Bella was there before the woman from before came back into the room and went right back to Bella._

_"Isabella, this is getting ridiculous. You need to eat and go home to get some rest. You cannot stay here; there is nothing you can do. You know they aren't even going to let you into the room today, maybe not even tomorrow."_

_"Just go home mother, leave me alone!" Bella got up, but she went right back down; her legs collapsed under her and her eyes rolled back._

_"Bella!" The woman screamed and a few people came running. I tried to get to herm but I was just a bystander…just watching. Just watching as something was seriously wrong with my new best friend._

I shot up in bed, drenched in sweat while my heart tried to beat its way out of my chest. Nothing bad can happen to Bella. Edward needs her, but right now,…Bella needs him.

I looked over to Jasper and found him fast asleep; completely unaware of what was sure to happen to someone who in a mere week has made a huge impact on this family. I slowly got out of bed to avoid waking Jasper and I called the airline to find the next flight out before sneaking around and packing a suitcase. There was only one more thing I needed to do…

"Ed-_ward_! Wake up!" I started to shake him, hoping to wake him faster. "You are going to be late and miss the plane; if you are late, so help me, I will not hesitate to kick your–"

"Alice? What are you talking about? What will I be late for? Where am I going?"

"Oh good, you are awake." I turned back to his closet to pick out something for him to wear that I had not already stuffed into the suitcase. "You are going to Florida…where Bella is."

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**AN:** This wasn't the original chapter; I had to rewrite it because some of it didn't really make sense. If you would like to read what the chapter I can post it separately as an outtake to the story, then add anything else that gets changed throughout the story.

Recently I realized that this story doesn't really have a plot, it is really just some things that happen with the characters that will eventually lead to an already partially planned ending.

**This story now has over 200 reviews, the 200****th**** review was **_**BalletDiva**_**. Thank you to all of you who have reviewed, as well as the 168 people who have put this story on alert, the 109 people who have added this story to their favorites, **_**cynic-bells**_** who put this story in her community, the 10 people who put me on their author alert, and the 8 people who added me to their list of favorite authors. :D**

I also think it is super cool that this story is being read by people around the world. :D

The **next chapter** will be in Bella's point of view, but it will take awhile to update since it will have a variety of things happening.

Also, pictures of the stuffed animals mentioned in the last chapter are up on my profile, in case you want to see them.


	23. Chapter 22 BPOV

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the _Twilight_ series, nor do I own the _Twilight _characters, but I do own the Galloway family including Ayden, and I do own little Taylor. :)

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AN:** I am **so incredibly sorry** that this took so long and I hope that it being over 5,000 words makes up for it a bit.  
I am dedicating this chapter to BreannaSageCullen and all my other readers for sticking with me, even though I have not updated in months. So thank you.

**My birthday is on Friday (June 12)!!!!!!

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**Bella POV**

I landed in Florida in the middle of the night, glad that I was tired enough to sleep on the plane. When I walked into the airport, I remembered what I had always hated about Florida airports. They were messy, the carpets needed a good shampoo, the chairs were cluttered and so close to the walkway, and the people were so rude it made you want to turn around and get right back on the plane.

Once I was reunited with my luggage, I walked to the front of the airport into that little room they have between the sliding doors. I pulled my phone out ready to call my mom to find out where she was when I heard someone scream my name. I looked through the glass doors and saw my mother coming towards me, so I began walking to meet her halfway.

"Hi Mom"

"Oh Bella, you have no idea how much I've missed you. I just wish your visit was for a happier reason."

"How is he?"

"He is at home for now. Even though they moved up the date for his surgery it still isn't for another couple of weeks, so you'll get your chance to visit with him before he has to go to the hospital." By this time, we were by the car where my mother's husband Phil was waiting by the trunk. Phil is a good person; he was a good stepfather to me while I was living with them. It is not that I ever had a problem with him per se, just his age. He is only about eight years older than I am which makes my mom about fourteen years older than he is. When he was born, she was old enough to have been his babysitter! To each his own.

"Heya Bella," Phil said as he hugged me warmly.

"Hi Phil, how've you been?"

"Doing pretty well, the team has been winning some games lately." We got into the car and Renee began to tell me about her new hobbies.

"Ooh, I've started a pottery class and it is so much fun. You have to see all the things I've made," my mother said excitedly.

"Mom, you took a pottery class five years ago, then three years before that, and when I was seven. Do they still have you in the 'beginner's class'?" Phil was trying, and failing, to stifle a chuckle in the driver's seat while my mom huffed and crossed her arms. "I'm sorry Mom, but until I see how much you've improved, there is really nothing for me to be excited about when I have already been through your pottery phase three times."

"I guess you're right," she let out a sigh as she lowered her arms.

"Honestly Mom, I wouldn't be surprised it you started to teach Beginner's Pottery."

"Ooh, do you think they would let me? That could be something fun to try. Do you think I should ask them?" Her excitement amplified and my guilt dissolved.

…

I woke up the next morning with the Florida sun in my face, the much too bright Florida sun. So I did what any normal person would do, I rolled over and pulled my comforter over my head.

My body was just about to return to the darkness that is sleep when my door creaked open.

"Bella, are you asleep?" _Not anymore, but maybe if I pretend I am still asleep– _"Bella?"

"I'm up Mom, I'm up." I threw the covers off me and slowly sat up while my mom took a seat at the end of my bed. "Is there something on your mind?"

"Actually I thought I should tell you what's going on with Ayden." _Okay, now I am definitely up._ "He went to his doctor's appointment yesterday and they discovered that his heart is worsening so they want to move the surgery up, so it will be in about two weeks. He is coming over today after school so maybe you could do something with him. The doctor said no strenuous activity, but I think he should do something other than sit around the house all day since he is going to be on bed rest after the surgery."

"Yeah Mom, I'll think of something."

That afternoon I decided I was going to pick Ayden up from school instead of him having to take the bus. I remembered how much I hated taking the bus when I was younger. I joined the queue of cars in front of the school and got out so Ayden could see me before he headed towards the buses. Mrs. Galloway had already called his bus driver so he knows that he would not be picking up Ayden today.

I stood near a group of women who looked more like trophy wives than soccer moms did…and they definitely did not sound like soccer moms.

"I really think Mary is sleeping with Mr. McLeod."

"What makes you say that?"

"Billy is one of the top students in the class right now."

"There is no way!"

"That kid is dumber than a door nail!"

"Which is why Mary must be sleeping with the teacher, how else would Billy get those grades?"

"That might explain why he turned down my invitation to a weekend in Miami Beach."

"Or it might be because he knows your boobs are faker than Janet's tan."

"My tan is very natural."

"The only thing natural about your tan is the brand's name on the front of the bottle."

"Well Lauren, we can say the same about your blonde hair."

"We all know you aren't physically blonde, mentally on the other hand…"

As entertaining as listening to them was, I thanked the powers that be when the bell rang giving me a chance to move closer to the doors. I mean really, who speaks like that in front of an elementary school?

The minute I saw Ayden's adorable little smile, all thoughts of the sluttish mothers left my mind. He lifted his head and his smile got impossibly bigger upon seeing me. He said something to the group of children he was walking with before he ran over and jumped into my arms. It had been months since I had seen him and I did not truly realize how much I missed him until I was with him once again.

After placing him back on the ground, I realized the group he was with was now around us staring curiously.

One little boy with dark hair and fish-eyes came forward, "Who are _you_?" _Someone has an attitude._

"Oh, Bella this is TJ," the rude kid, "Jason, Robert, Bryan, Zack, Hillary, and Taylor." Of course, I did not miss how Ayden and Taylor moved closer to each other. _Someone has a crush._ She was cute; she had long curly brown hair and hazel eyes in contrast to Ayden's straight jet-black hair and blue eyes. _There is no denying the kid has good taste at his age._

I opened my mouth to say hi, but was cut off by a shrill voice, "Tyler!" It was the bottle blonde from the Slutty Mother's Group, Lauren, I think.

"Ugh, Tyler you look like a mess, I don't know why I let your father talk me out of private schools for you, at least then you wouldn't be spending time with these hooligans." She looked at the group of kids with apparent disgust before noticing my presence; her disgust only seemed to increase as she eyed my appearance. "Who are you?" _So _this_ is where TJ gets his attitude._

"She's my neighbor's daughter and one of my friends, Mrs. Crowley," It is not good when a nine-year-old is able to tell when his friend's mom dislikes people.

"Whatever. Come on Tyler, let's get you home and cleaned up before people see you." With that, she grabbed her son's arm and stalked away.

"God I hate that woman and her jerky little son." Shocked, I turned to Taylor to see a small blush on her equally shocked face. "Sorry…Um, I have to go, my mom is here. I'll see you Monday Ayden!" She called as she ran off to a woman who looked to be a few years older than I was.

Once we were on the way home after picking up some ice cream form Cold Stone, I started in on the interrogation. "So, your friends seem nice."

"They are, but TJ can be pretty mean at times and that's why Taylor doesn't like him." Ice cream was a great idea. Give a child sweets and they will be so preoccupied they will not notice what they are saying.

"Oh really, so tell me more about Taylor." _Is that a blush? Yes it is. Good, that means I am getting somewhere._

"She's nice." _Nope, not good enough._

"Yeah, Hillary seemed nice too." That got him to stop eating.

"No, I mean she's _nice_. She's smart, pretty, funny, and super sweet."

"So you like her then?"

"No, I like Hillary, but I _like_ Taylor. She's…like…I don't know, but I definitely like her more than I like Hillary."

"So you've got a crush on her?"

"I guess; can we please stop talking about this now?"

"Sure thing."

Ayden breathed a sigh of relief next to me, "Thanks."

"No problem," _I already have all the information I need anyway._

…

"Bella…Bella…BELLA!"

"What? I'm up," I mumbled keeping my head buried in my pillows.

"No you're not, silly Bella," I heard the same little voice snickering. _I know that voice._ I flipped over onto my back and sure enough, there was Ayden sitting on my bed wide-awake.

"Good morning Ayden, what are you doing up so early?" I asked him as he snuggled into my side.

"Daddy had a dentist appointment and I didn't want to go so I asked if I could come over here."

"Okay, so what are we doing today then?"

"Movies!"

"Which ones are we going to watch first?"

"You're the babysitter Bella, shouldn't you decide?"

"When did you become such a smarty pants?"

"I have always been one, I just hid it from you because I wasn't sure if your mental capacity could handle it or not."

"Are you implying that I'm stupid?"

"Your words Bella, not mine."

"Well Mr. Know-It-All, why don't you go downstairs and pick out some movies while I shower and change."

"Yeah, you kind of smell."

"Get out"

"I'm going, I'm going"

I took a shower in my old bathroom and got dressed in some worn jeans and a Florida Gators sweatshirt. I walked down the stairs, and upon hearing sounds form the television, made my way into the kitchen where my mom was standing in front of the coffee pot.

"Morning Mom"

"Morning Bella, how do you feel about waffles this morning?" I saw the glint in her eyes and I should have known what was coming, but of course, my thought process is still a bit slow this early in the morning.

"When did you learn how to make waffles? Wait, when did you learn how to cook?"

"Oh well, I didn't, I bought this new waffle iron and I thought you could you know test it out for me, so that I know it works."

"Well now I know who I got my inability to lie from. How many waffles am I making?"

"Oh, thank you Bella, it's been so long since I've had homemade breakfast."

I called Ayden into the kitchen once I finished making breakfast, and we all sat at the table eating the waffles I made while making small talk.

Ayden and I then watched movies all day long starting with _Toy Story_, until Ayden fell asleep while we were watching _Underworld_.

…

The next day Ayden wanted to go to the park. I made sure we went to a park that had a playground and really big trees.

Ayden rode his bike, making sure to follow doctor's orders and remain at a leisurely pace, while I laid out the blanket we brought for our picnic under a large ficus that offered plenty of shade.

With Ayden doing his own thing, I thought I would use this time to call Alice so that she knows I made it and to find out what she did with my truck.

She answered on the third ring, "Bella!"

"Hi Alice," I said chuckling at her enthusiasm. "How are you?"

"I'm good. We drove back yesterday. Bella did you know your truck does not go over 50mph? It is ridiculous how long it took to drive back. I am sure Rose can fix that for you. You know maybe find a new engine for it or something. It would go a lot faster wouldn't that be great? I know Edward and Rose hated going so slow. Emmett had to distract Rose many times throughout the drive. We drove with our cell phones on speakerphone so we could still talk to each other and it would feel like we were all in the same car. He misses you, you know…Edward I mean, but I am sure Emmett misses you too. He did not say it, again I am talking about Edward; he did not say anything but you could just tell by looking at his face, do you know what I mean? He refused to let any one else drive your truck. I think it was his way of still being close to you even if you were in another state. I miss you too Bella. Why did you not call when you landed? I have been so worried. I did not dream about you last night and I do not know if that is a good thing or a bad thing. How was the flight? How is everyone? Are you sitting in the hospital now? Why have you not called? Bella, why are you not answering me?! Bell–"

"Alice! Take a deep breath. I am doing okay. I did not call when I landed because it was late and I just wanted to sleep. The flight was just okay, I slept but I kept worrying about Ayden. Everyone here is doing pretty well considering. No, I am not at the hospital now; I am at the park with Ayden. I did not call before because I have been spending time with my mom and with Ayden. Moreover, I did not answer your questions before because I could not get a word in. Oh, and I miss you too."

"Sorry, I tend to talk a lot and ramble. I do not mean to do it, it somewhat just happens. I am not really sure I have control over it. Rose calls me Motor mouth and Emmett says I remind him of those weird little wind p teeth. You know the ones I am talking about? They have little feet and when you wind it up the teeth chatter and the little feet move–"

"Alice, you are doing it again."

"Right, sorry, um…who is Ayden?"

"His family lives next door to my mom and her husband, Phil. I used to baby-sit Ayden when I was in college he is almost ten now. He developed a heart condition after he had gotten sick as a baby and was supposed to have surgery during the summer. He had a doctor's appointment last week and they said they were moving up the surgery which is why I came down."

"So then that dream I had a few months ago of you in the hospital must have been about Ayden." Form Alice's side I heard a door close and what sounded like a muffled "Alice!"

"Oh, sorry Bell, that's Jazzy. I have to go. I will let Edward know you said 'Hi', okay? Bye!"

I did not even get the chance to respond before I heard the click that let me know she had ended the call. I never got the chance to ask about my truck.

I put my phone away and looked at the trail to see Ayden riding back to me. Once he reached the tree I was at, he dropped his bike to the ground and tore into the picnic basket.

After we ate, I had the urge to climb a tree. I used to climb trees a lot when I was in college. It was my way of getting away from everything. I usually climbed a tree when I saw a classmate of mine, Mike Newton, nearby. I knew he could not climb a tree to save his life so I would use the trees to hide plus they offered a very cool place to study…well not really cool, just not scorching.

"Ayden, do you know how to climb trees?"

"Um…no?"

"How does a nine-year-old boy not know how to climb trees?"

"Nine-and-three-quarters, first of all, and second, who was going to teach me to climb trees?"

"Come on, get up, you mister are going to climb your first tree." Standing there with a fist pumped in the air and a ridiculous smile on my face, I suddenly felt like Alice; I am not sure if that is a good thing.

…

"Ayden, are you okay?" Ayden had gotten up the tree fine but now he was wide-eyed staring at the ground. "Ayden, are you afraid of heights? ...Are you okay? …Why are you breathing like that? …Oh crap, you are hyperventilating aren't you? …Shit, I mean shoot, um, take large deep breaths."

Ayden merely gripped the tree harder and continued his frightful stare.

"How about we go back down to the ground now?" This caused him to scream and go into hysterics. "Okay, okay, we can stay up here!"

Once I was able to calm the hysteria down, I decided my best bet would be to call fire rescue; and that is just what I did…

…

"Okay Bella, they just took Ayden into surgery, his mom and I are going to stay in his room until he gets out." Mr. Galloway was the calm one and reminded me a lot of Jasper right now; Mrs. Galloway was squeezed into his side with silent tears streaming down her face. It was my entire fault; I should not have climbed that tree with him. If it were not for me, Ayden would have had his regularly scheduled surgery and we would not be as worried as we are right now.

"I'm sorry," I whispered as I bowed my head in shame and guilt.

Mrs. Galloway dropped her husband's arm from around her shoulders and rushed over to pull me into a tight hug, "It's not your fault. None of us had any idea this would happen. We never thought that something happening to a classmate last year would have had such an effect on him."

"What happened last year?"

"One of his classmates was climbing one of the trees in the park, he lost his footing and he…he…he fell. They rushed him to the hospital, but he had internal bleeding…he didn't make it."

"Oh God, I'm so sorry, I didn't know."

"It's not your fault; you were just trying to be the big sister you always were to him. Never apologize for something like that. Do you understand me?"

I nodded my head after she pulled back and she and her husband returned to Ayden's hospital room.

"Bella, I think we should go home. You have been here all night and there is nothing we can do right now. You haven't eaten and you haven't slept…" I finally tuned in to what my mother was saying; I knew she thought we should leave but I could not.

"No,"

"What? Bella, we need to get you home."

"I heard you the first time Mom, but I'm not ready to leave, just yet."

"But Bella–"

Thankfully, Phil was here and he decided to step in, "Renee, why don't we go have some breakfast and let Bella have some time for herself." Too bad my mother does not give up so easily.

"But Phil, she can't just stay here. She needs to eat something and get some sleep."

"Mom, I would appreciate it if you would stop talking about me like I can't hear you."

"We are sorry Bella; your mother and I are leaving now. We will be back in a few hours." Phil gave my mom a pointed look before pulling me into a hug and whispering in my ear, "Your mother is just worried about you and Ayden and so am I, but you know how she gets since Ayden got sick that first time."

My mom hugged me before she and Phil left leaving me alone to my thoughts in the empty waiting room.

I hate waiting rooms. They smell weird, the chairs are uncomfortable and discolored, there is always a screaming kid – I sent up my thanks for this one not having any, and on the television was always a soap opera that took place in a hospital. Who wants to see a depressing hospital show, where at lest one patient dies in every episode, while they are sitting in a hospital? Is the hospital trying to convey a hidden message by putting on that show?

The only thing worse than sitting in a waiting room, is sitting _alone_ in a waiting room. It allows you the opportunity to think about things you should not necessarily be thinking about. It allows you to think about the fact that you would not be here worrying about someone in surgery if it were not because of something _you_ wanted to do. It allows you to think about a nine-year-old child lying on the operating table because of something _you_ thought would be fun. It allows you to think about an emergency surgery taking place weeks before it was supposed to. It allows you to think about what that nine-and-three-quarters-year-old child could be doing right now if _you_ had not wanted to climb a stupid tree. It allows you to think about how all of this, _everything_ everyone is going through today, right now, is _entirely your_ fault.

"Bella?" a warm hand touched my leg and I hadn't realized that I was crying or that I was hugging my knees to my chest or that someone even walked into the empty waiting room until I lifted my head from my knees and my teary eyes met the green sad ones of Edward Cullen.

I could not stop myself I leaped at him. I did not know why or how he got here, but I did not care as I buried my face into the space between his shoulder and neck, and continued to cry.

Edward lifted me from my chair and settled himself in one of the hard sofas placing me on his lap and cradling me tightly against his chest as I continued to cry.

I do not know how long we sat there waiting for my tears and sobs to diminish while Edward whispered words of comfort, but eventually my stomach growled and I knew it had to have been a few hours.

"You haven't eaten, have you Bella?" Without waiting for my response Edward moved me onto the couch and crouched in front of me like I was a scared child, "I'm going to go down to the cafeteria and get us some lunch, okay? I'll be back shortly." Edward stood and softly kissed the top of my head before walking out of the waiting room.

At present time, I was not thinking about Ayden, but that does not mean my guilt stopped. I made Alice worry for no reason, and Alice seems like the type of person who would worry more than she has to. Edward was obviously here because of me, meaning he spent money on plane tickets, probably a rental car and hotel room, he is not teaching his classes because he is here with me, and he is away from his family that he sees constantly. Edward just reconciled with Esme and here I go taking him away from her. That got me started thinking about Esme. Monday is usually my day to call her, the beginning of the week when Carlisle goes back to the hospital and she is in that house by herself. She is probably worried about me, wondering why I have not called her yet especially now that we have met in person.

"Okay Bella, I wasn't sure what you would like so I got chicken parmesan, and spaghetti and meatballs. Which one do you want?" Edward asked as he sat back down on the sofa. I really needed to pay more attention to my surroundings, this is the second time Edward walked into this waiting room without me noticing until he spoke. I wonder if anyone else has walked in since I have been here. "Bella?"

"Huh," oh right, he asked me a question. "Um, the chicken, I'm not really a big fan of meatballs."

Edward passed me the tray with the chicken parmesan on it along with a bottle of orange juice and some Oreo® cupcake thing, "I figured you could use the sugar."

"Thanks," I mumbled as I took off the cover for my chicken parmesan and we began to eat in silence. Of course having already established that silence is not currently my friend, my mind returned to Ayden.

He was so scared on that tree and I did not know what to do. He started to hyperventilate and I knew that was not good for his health, but I just could not get him to calm down.

Edward held my hand when came back to his seat next to me on the sofa after cleaning up our lunch, unsurprisingly I didn't notice that he had gotten up in the first place.

"It's my fault," I whispered to the dirty chairs across from us.

"What?" Obviously, he had no idea what was going on here in the first place. Alice probably arranged his flight and he only knew that he was supposed to be coming for me.

"It's my entire fault," I said a bit louder.

"What is? Why don't you start from the beginning?"

I took a deep breath and proceeded to tell Edward all about Ayden and his health, "After I had moved in with my dad towards the end of high school my mom and step dad, Phil, moved down here. The Galloway family lived in the house next door and they had just had a son named Ayden.

"I moved back in with Mom and Phil for college and I used to baby-sit Ayden when I had the free time. When Ayden was a baby, he had strep throat, which developed into rheumatic fever. Both Mrs. Galloway and Ayden were allergic to penicillin so the doctors could not give him certain treatments. Then, a couple years ago Ayden developed heart problems–"

"Rheumatic heart disease"

"Yeah, so the doctors kept a close watch on him waiting to see if and when he would need to get the surgery. Eventually they decided to do the valve replacement this coming summer, but at Ayden's appointment last week the surgery was moved up to this week, hence why I came down. Then yesterday Ayden wanted to go to the park and while we were there I taught Ayden to climb a tree–"

"Klutzy Bella can climb trees?"

I used my free hand to smack Edward lightly, "Yes, I can climb trees. I kind of had to in college; there was this person, Mike, who would not leave me alone. I used to climb the trees on campus to hide when I saw him coming."

"Ah, now it makes sense, poor guy."

"Anyway, when we got to the top Ayden started to freak out and I couldn't get him to go back down, so I finally had to call fire rescue to get us out of the tree. It turns out that Ayden had a classmate that died when he fell out of a tree last year, so when he realized how high up we were he started to get scared. All the 'excitement' wasn't good for his heart so they had to do an emergency surgery."

"So now he is getting some prosthetic valves?"

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"We learned this in med school."

"You went to med school?"

"Yeah, I'm technically a doctor, just not a practicing one. I never did my residency."

"Shocking"

"Yeah, that's what Dad said when I told him I was going to teach music instead."

"I can't even imagine–" The door of the waiting room opened and I stopped mid-sentence when my throat went dry at the sight of a doctor walking over to us. As he came closer, I stood up and Edward wrapped his arm around me hugging me to his side.

"Are you Bella Swan?" The older doctor asked.

"Y-ye-" I could not get my mouth to cooperate, thank the Lord Edward was here.

"She is," the doctor took a quick peek at Edward before turning back to look at me.

"The Mr. and Mrs. Galloway asked me to let you know how the surgery went," I stiffened and Edward's arm held me tighter. "The surgery went well and Ayden will be just fine. You can come see him tomorrow if you like, but for right now it is immediate family only."

I breathed a sigh of relief and thanked the doctor quickly before he left the room, and turned to look at Edward, "Let's get out of here."

…

I was sitting on the roof staring blankly at the stars as I thought about Ayden and everything that occurred at the hospital. I was terrified when the doctors and nurses were running around talking about turning it into an emergency surgery.

Then I thought about Edward. How he showed up at the hospital at just the right time, when I needed someone the most. He got me food from the cafeteria when eating was really the last thing on my mind. He did not try to get me home, although we are not allowed in Ayden's room until the morning; he waited until I was ready to go. Most importantly, he silently let me know that he was there. It was in the way he sat next to me and held my hand; it was in the way he held me as we watched the doctor walk towards us to let us know the surgery went well.

I heard the ladder creak and saw the very man that plagued my current thoughts appear.

"Hey, your mom said you might be up here, mind if I join you?" I shrugged and he moved to sit next to me. "Ayden is fine, but what about you Bella? Are you okay?"

I pondered his question, _was I okay?_ I turned my head to look at him; _I was okay._ He had made sure of that by taking care of me today. I reached my hand out to grab his so I could thank him but as soon as our skin came in contact, he flinched.

"Bells, you are freezing! I'm glad I thought to bring out a blanket." He moved to sit behind me so I was between his legs and my back was to his chest. He wrapped the blanket followed by his arms around me and I shivered. Up until that moment, I had not realized how cold it had gotten. I was torn between cursing the random cold front that decided to attack Florida and thanking it for putting me in Edward's arms. I shivered again instigating Edward's arms to wrap tighter around me while he kissed the back of my head before burrowing his face in my hair and I leaned further into his embrace.

Sitting there with him, I realized what my mind has been trying to tell me as it replayed the events of today…I was in love with Edward Anthony Masen Cullen.

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**AN:** I do not know how long it will take me to do the next chapter, but I hope that since it is now summer vacation it will take a lot less time to write the next chapter. Again, I am so sorry for how long this took.

The Florida Gators sweatshirt that Bella wears is actually only in the story because I have one. When I talk about the airports in the beginning, I am only referring to a few airports in Florida. The Fort Lauderdale airport is not that bad.

There is a small piece of dialogue that I forgot to include in this chapter so I will provide it as a teaser for those who review and I will be sure to include the dialogue somewhere in the next chapter. If you do not have an account or you do not want to review just IM or E-mail me, the info is in my account.

Thank you for continuing to read my story. :)


	24. Chapter 23 EPOV

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the _Twilight_ series, nor do I own the _Twilight_ characters. BreannaSageCullen owns Bree; I just made her genre jazz and Taylor's mother. Adorable little Ayden and his family, as well as adorable little Taylor are all mine.

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**AN:** I thank you for your continued support in the penname/username issue. I was a little worried that I would lose readers, but everyone who had this story in their alerts/favorites has kept it so I thank you. I did check yesterday and some of the profiles have been removed, but a few still remain. I thank the person who removed those profiles and I hope you understand my feelings on this issue.

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**Edward POV**

I was sitting on the roof with my arms wrapped tightly around her small frame, my face buried in her hair – it smelled like strawberries, and I could not help but become conscious of how perfect she felt in my arms.

She slumped against me and I realized she had fallen asleep. I kept a secure hold on her and somehow made it down the ladder. If someone were to ask me how I did it, I would not have been able to answer him or her because _I_ am not even sure how I did it.

When I got inside the house, Renee was still up so she led me to Bella's bedroom. I placed Bella on her bed and was turning to go sleep on the couch, but when I tried to take a step back, Bella's grip on me tightened and she furrowed her brow, "Edward…stay…don't go."

I was unsure of what to do. Do I stay as she asked, even though she is asleep, or do I leave to avoid what would most likely be an awkward morning? I looked to Renee for guidance and she gave me an encouraging smile, "You better do as the sleeping girl says Edward." She turned to leave the room. "I'll see you guys in the morning, good night," with that, she turned off the light, closed the door, and left me in her daughter's room.

I took off Bella's shoes, kicked off my own, and climbed under the covers next to her. As soon as I was in a lying position, Bella snuggled closer to me and her facial features noticeably relaxed into a small smile.

"Edward"

"Sweet dreams, Sleeping Beauty." Those were the last whispered words of the night as I succumbed to sleep.

…

The next morning I awoke to soft touches on my face but was unable to figure out what was causing it. Then it suddenly dawned on me that I had gone to sleep in Bella's bed last night meaning she was the producer of the soft touches.

I reached up to grab her hand and her fingers as I slowly opened my eyes coming face to face with a true beauty, "That is a very nice way to start the day."

"Good morning," her voice was soft yet void of any drowsiness, I briefly wondered how long she had been awake.

"Indeed it is; how did you sleep?" I kept my voice just as quiet as hers.

"I think that was actually the best sleep I have ever had." She looked down and bit her lip as a deep blush colored her cheeks before returning her gaze back to mine, "Thanks for staying with me."

"How could I deny a request from Sleeping Beauty herself?" I chuckled watching her blush deepen further.

"Yeah well I've already showered, so are you sure it's me that is Sleeping Beauty?"

"Are you calling me beautiful?" I fluttered my eyelashes and gave her a small shy smile.

"Go take a shower," she told me as she shoved me off her bed.

"I'm going, you don't need to be so pushy," I said with a laugh, before turning to find my luggage by the door of her bathroom. I grabbed it and went inside to shower. The bathroom had a more concentrated smell of freesias and strawberries, the scent of Bella.

I opened my luggage to see Alice had packed a smaller bag with body wash, toothpaste, deodorant, and my toothbrush. As much as I like the way that Bella smells, I was glad I would not have to smell like that, save for my hair since Alice did not pack shampoo.

When I went back into Bella's room I found her lying on her back, still on her bed gazing out the window. I made my way over to her bed, lying down perpendicular to her with my head resting upon her stomach.

As I stared at the ceiling waiting for her to speak up, I felt her fingers brushing through my hair. I glanced up at her but she was still looking out the window so I went back to counting those little glow-in-the-dark stars she had glued to her ceiling.

"Hey Bella?"

"Hmm?"

"How long are we staying in Florida?"

Her fingers stopped brushing through my hair and she finally turned her head to look at me, "Edward, you don't need to stay. I know you have to get back to your music school."

"It's okay Bella, I want to stay. Besides Alice is handling things while I'm gone."

"I didn't know Alice could play the piano too," her fingers had resumed their brushing, an action I was very happy about.

"She doesn't, she plays the violin; our parents had enrolled her when I was taking my piano lessons. Anyway, she does not need to know how to play the piano, she is just going to review how to read the sheet music as practice and teach any new students to read notes. So…how long are we staying?"

"For about a month; I promised Ayden I would spend the summer with him since that is when he was supposed to have his surgery but since it was moved up and this became an emergency trip I had to move some stuff around."

"As much as I want to, I can't stay that long. The school has a concert planned for June. So how about this: I stay the rest of this week then I can come back the last week you are here and we can fly back home together?"

"Yes, we could, but Edward you really don't have to…"

"I know I don't Bella, I _want_ to. Now will you quit trying to get rid of me, it's not going to work, you're stuck with me so just deal with it."

"Okay," she gave me a small smile, tugging on a few strands of my hair, and returned her attention to her window.

We remained in her bed for a few moments until my gaze shifted to the time projected on the ceiling by her clock radio only to find out it was no longer morning, but instead early afternoon. "Come on, your mom said she would see us in the morning; I think she is waiting for us," I told her as I slid out and met her by the foot of the bed.

"When did she tell you this?"

"Last night when I carried you back in the house."

"She was still up that late?"

I grabbed her hand as she led us down the hall, "How do you think I knew where your room was?"

"I don't know, maybe you went into every room until you found an empty bed, or maybe you really came a few days ago and were looking through windows so you already knew where my room was come last night, or maybe you're a mind reader and found my room through my mother's mind, or maybe…um…"

"You ran out of maybes didn't you?"

"Um, maybe…ha there's one," she dropped my hand to do a miniature victory dance before facing me to stick out her tongue, which my hand darted out to grab. "Eburb, let bo of my pung!"

"I'm sorry, what was that? I couldn't quite understand you."

"Let bo of my pung."

"I'm sorry but I'm still having a hard time trying to understand you. Can you repeat that one more time, please?" Rather than repeat herself for the third time she growled. She actually growled. It was probably the cutest growl I had ever heard, but of course, I was not going to tell her that. "Bella did you just growl at me?" Her face flushed in response and she tried pushing me away, "Oh my God, you did." I could not help but laugh, which in turn caused me to release her tongue from my hold.

I was still chuckling and I do not think any of us realized, we had already reached the kitchen, nor did we realize that someone was in there to witness what had just occurred until said person spoke, "You two are more entertaining than television."

I turned my head to see Renee sitting at the breakfast bar drinking from a mug at the same time Bella gasped, "Mom!" Renee's eyes flickered over to her daughter and she raised her eyebrow in question.

"You saw all this and you just sat there? You didn't make him stop or try to help me?" Bella was glaring at her mother while Renee merely shrugged in answer, causing Bella to hiss out, "Traitor!"

"Oh please, sweetie, you looked like you were handling it just fine. I highly doubted Edward was going to cause you any harm. Speaking of Edward," Renee put done her mug to fold her hands in front of her, "how did the two of you meet?"

"Last week I called you and I told you I was going to stay at the Cullen's?"

Renee turned to me, "You're Dr. Cullen? I thought he was married with two kids."

"Dr. Cullen _is_ married with two kids Mom, Dr. _Carlisle_ Cullen. This is his son, Edward."

"Oh, so does gorgeous run in the family or are you the lucky one?" I had no idea how to answer that or if I _was_ supposed to answer that. How would I answer something like that? Thankfully, I did not have to.

"Mom!"

"Look Bell, he's blushing. Oh that's so cute."

"Okay, we're getting out of here. Edward and I are going to go see Ayden now, so we'll see you later Mom." Bella grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the kitchen towards the front door, but Renee was still talking.

"Be careful of the nurses, they might stick their claws in him."

"This is why Phil doesn't take you anywhere Mom!"

"That's okay sweetie, we have enough fun here!"

"Eww! That is way too much information!" Bella covered her ears and ran out of the house before Renee could say anymore. I was still in shock from Renee's…compliment?

"Edward, Edward," I heard someone calling my name, but I just couldn't get over the shock, "Earth to Eddie," okay, that did it. My head snapped up to look at Bella as soon as the horrid word left her mouth. "Welcome back, now can you please stop staring into space and unlock the door of your shiny rental and take me to see the little munchkin?"

"Um, yeah," I moved to open the passenger door for her, "Just don't call me Eddie," I told her before shutting the door and getting in on the driver's side.

"I'm sorry, _Edward_, but you didn't seem to hear me so I had to take drastic measures. So tell me why you chose this car at the rental place."

"Well at home I drive a Volvo S80, this being a Volvo S60 it was the closest they had to my car."

"Did it have to be silver too?"

"Of course," I knew she had only asked as a joke, but I really did want the closest thing to my car and my Volvo was silver. "We can't all drive a rusty, red, Ford truck that doesn't go over 50 miles per hour." I knew from the way she crossed her arms in front of her she did not appreciate me mocking her truck, but those thoughts left my brain as soon as I heard her hissing in pain.

I looked over to see her cradling her injured wrist against her chest. "You are going to have to get that recast you know."

"But I don't want a stupid cast," she was whining like a small child and even had the little pout on her face.

"Well, Bella, you should have thought of that before you climbed a tree with Ayden then climbed onto your roof last night with a broken wrist. My father told you to take care of your wrist when he traded it in the cast for a brace."

"Stupid shiny silver Volvo owner," she knew I was right and had given up.

"You can call me all the names you want, just remember that you brought this on yourself missy, so when we get to the hospital you are getting a new cast before we see Ayden."

"Fine, I'll get the stupid cast."

We arrived at the hospital and Bella went right up to the desk in the emergency room, "Hi Ariel, how have you been?"

A round face surrounded by gray hair looked up and her eyes sparkled upon seeing Bella in front of her, "Bella, it's been so long since we've seen you, how are you?"

"The same, is Dr. Banner in today? I need a new cast for my wrist."

"Of course dear, I'll page him…Bella, there is a very handsome young man staring at you."

Bella turned to smile at me, "Come over here Edward." Once I was next to her, she began the introductions, "Ariel this is Edward, Edward this is Ariel. She was the first nurse I met when I moved down here."

"It's a pleasure to meet you Ariel," I said as I held out my hand to shake hers.

"The pleasure is all mine, I'm sure," she replied flirtatiously grabbing my hand.

"Down Ariel, he is too young for you. You're going to scare him off, besides what would Jack say if he found out you were flirting with younger men?" Bella said with an eyebrow raised.

"He would ask me if that younger man had a sister, now you and Boy Toy over here go sit down while I page Dr. Banner," she shooed us away and I followed Bella to a couple of chairs.

"Who is Jack?"

"Her husband, they have been married for about forty years. Why Edward, does Ariel scare you? Don't worry, I'll protect you from the big bad nurses," she kidded, squeezing my cheek with her good hand.

"You know, I'm going to stop going places with you if you are just going to make fun of me."

"I'm sorry Edward, I didn't mean it," she rested her head on my shoulder as I leaned back in my chair, "but it is just so funny to see you get so flustered when these old ladies hit on you."

I was about to retort when I noticed a familiar doctor walking towards us and Bella jumped up to greet him, "Heya Banner."

"Bella, my favorite accident victim, how are you?"

"I have a broken wrist that I need you to look at, please."

"Of course, so what else is new – and who is this?" Dr. Banner had turned to look at me.

"Hi Dr. Banner, it's been awhile."

"Edward, how's Carlisle doing?" He asked with a smile, once he recognized me.

"Why don't you ask Bella; I'm pretty sure she has seen him more in the last two years then I have."

"Oh really," he looked at Bella in question.

"He's my new doctor," Bella mumbled with a dark blush on her cheeks. "Um, how do you know the Cullens?"

"I worked with Carlisle before I came to Florida, about a year before you arrived. Come on, enough chit chat, let's get you wrapped up."

"Oh joy," Bella deadpanned.

…

Once Bella was fitted for a new cast, we said our goodbyes to Dr. Banner and went to pediatrics to see Ayden.

When we got there a group of kids was leaving the room, I looked at Bella.

"School must have let out while I was getting my cast." Bella then waved to the last three children leaving the room waving back, "Those three are friends of Ayden's; I met them on Friday when I picked him up from school. Come on, let's go in, and see the patient."

I followed Bella into the room that had just released the mob of children only to see that there were still a few children in the room playing video games.

"Bella, you're here!" said a little voice and I looked over to see a small boy with jet black hair and clear blue eyes, reminding me a lot of Alice except for his tan complexion.

"Of course, I'm here where else would I go? Besides, my friend here wanted to meet you, his name is Edward," then she turned to me, "Edward, this is Ayden."

"Hey Ayden," I walked closer to his bed and knelt down next to the chair Bella was in before leaning closer, "Now between you and me, are there any embarrassing stories you can tell me about Bella?" I wiggled my eyebrows, which earned a laugh from Ayden and a shove from Bella.

I turned to look at her, "You know that is the second time you've shoved me today," and then I looked back at Ayden, "I don't think she likes me."

Ayden motioned for me to move closer; when I did, he whispered in my ear, "Nah, she likes you. She wouldn't have brought you here to meet me if she didn't."

I smiled at him, "That's good to know."

Suddenly the door burst open and a small girl with long curly brown hair and bright hazel eyes came bouncing into the room, "Hey Ayden!" Then she noticed Bella and me next to the bed and she smiled shyly before walking over to Bella, "Hi Bella."

"Hi Taylor, how was school?" Bella helped the little girl settle on her lap.

"It was okay," she looked at Ayden, "but it just wasn't the same without you." The she turned to me and held out her tiny hand, "Hi I'm Taylor. I'm a friend of Ayden's."

I smiled and shook her hand, she was adorable, "Hi Taylor. My name is Edward and I'm a friend of Bella's"

Taylor then whispered something in Bella's ear to which Bella responded with, "He is." Taylor whispered something else in Bella's ear and this time Bella whispered her response in Taylor's ear. Back and forth they went, with the whispering and the giggling.

"Are girls always like this?" I looked back at Ayden to see him looking at Bella and Taylor.

"My little sister was," I told him remembering the way Alice and her friends would whisper when she had her sleepovers.

Before I could get any embarrassing stories out of Ayden we were interrupted by a shrill voice, "Tyler what are you still doing in here? I don't have all day."

Beside me, Bella groaned quietly, but it was not quite quiet enough because the woman turned to us and her features changed from that of annoyance to sickly sweet, "Bella dear, it's so good to see you again. Who's your friend?" She turned to look at me, batting her eyelashes, which only served to make her look like she had a tick or was having a seizure. "My name is Lauren," she made a noise in her throat that I think was supposed to be a purr…maybe, and she held out her thin hand for me to shake.

I lightly took her hand, not really wanting to touch it, "I'm Edward," I told her before dropping her hand.

Not one to be rejected, this one, she began to rub my shoulder, "Hmm, that's a nice name, so Eddie how do you know darling Ayden over here?"

"It's Edward, and actually–"

Taylor cut me off, "Actually, _Mrs._ Crowley, _Edward_ is Bella's _boyfriend_. He did not want her traveling alone."

Lauren's hand dropped from my shoulder, "Humph, come on Tyler we're leaving."

"But Mom, I'm almost done with this level!"

"Let's go," Lauren stomped out of the room without so much as a second glance, and the little boy she was talking to trudged out after her.

After a while, the other children left the room with their parents, it was just Ayden, Taylor, Bella, and I.

"Taylor, where is your mom," Bella asked the small girl.

"I'm not sure, she said she was going to the bathroom, but then she got a call so I left her in the hall and came here."

"Does she know where you are?" Once Bella asked her question, the door of Ayden's room opened again, this time revealing a woman who held a large resemblance to Taylor except with a rounder face. She looked familiar, like I have seen her before, but I could not figure out where.

"Hi Mommy," Taylor gave a little wave from Bella's lap.

Taylor's mother waved back then turned her attention to Bella and me, "I hope she isn't bothering you."

"Of course not, you have a wonderful little girl," Bella was quick to explain.

"A perfect angel," I added, she _did_ save me from Lauren.

Bella slid Taylor off her lap to stand, while I stood p from my kneeling position, and introduced us to Taylor's mother, "Hi I'm Bella; my mom and stepdad are Ayden's neighbors, and this is my friend Edward."

Taylor's mom shook both of our hands and introduced herself as Bree Sáiste. Sáiste… Sáiste… Sáiste…Bree Sáiste…_oh!_

"You're the jazz singer!" I exclaimed; I knew my eyes were wide with the new discovery.

"Yes, I am," she giggled, she was laughing at me.

"Sorry, you just looked so familiar and I was trying to figure out how I knew you. I have all your albums at home, so I guess I recognized the picture on the back of them."

"Right, um, Edward and I were going to go get something at the cafeteria if you would like to join us, the kids will be fine here," Bella offered.

"Sure," Bree turned to Taylor, "Don't leave this room."

"Okey Dokey lemon pokey," I liked Taylor, she was funny.

Bella opened her mouth to say something to Ayden, but he cut her off, "Are you really going to tell me that?"

"Right, be good Munchkin."

We arrived at the cafeteria, and found a table once we purchased our food.

"So Bree, Edward said he has your albums, but what exactly do you do?" Bella asked curiously taking a bite of her eggplant parmesan.

"Oh, I'm a jazz singer. I came here to take a break and relax with Taylor, you know give her a chance to go to school without all the traveling for a while. I actually have a concert tomorrow night to kick off the summer tour and her nanny is a college student who went to Cancun this week for her spring break, so I'm waiting on a call from our neighbor to see if she can babysit for me."

We talked more about her upcoming tour until Bree's cell phone began vibrating on the table. "Excuse me, it's my neighbor," she said before walking away from the table to answer her phone.

I turned to Bella, "It would have been so cool if we could have gone to that concert tomorrow."

"Sorry to burst your bubble, but…we can't. Ayden has chosen us to stay with him tomorrow night, and has kicked out his parents starting tomorrow afternoon for 24 hours."

"Seriously?" I was shocked.

"Yup, his mom called me this morning while you were in the shower. Apparently, he told them that just because he is in the hospital does not mean he has to feel like he is in the hospital. So he wants 24 hours with us, so he can feel 'normal'."

Before I had a chance to respond, Bree came back looking upset. "Is everything okay, Bree?" I asked as soon as she sat down.

"No, it's not. My neighbor said she can't watch Taylor tomorrow night, which means I'm going to have to take her with me, and she hates going to my concerts because there is never anything for her to do, but it doesn't look like I have a choice."

"So leave her with us," both Bree's and my head snapped up to look at Bella in shock. "What, it makes perfect sense. Edward and I will be here tomorrow spending the night with Ayden, and I am almost positive Ayden and Taylor would not mind spending the time together. I know you don't know us that well, but the fact that we will be in a hospital the whole time might be a little reassuring."

"Are you…um…are you sure? I know she can be a handful at times, and I am unsure as to when I will be able to pick her up. I just met you people, I do not want to impose. I–"

Bella cut her off before she could say anything else, "Don't worry about it, Edward and I would be happy to watch Taylor, she is such a sweet girl. Moreover, Edward and I were going to spend the night with Ayden so you could just pick up Taylor in the morning, it would be no problem. Besides we all know that right now you are desperate for a babysitter and Edward and I are free. I can have Ayden's parents call you about it tonight. I used to babysit Ayden when I was in college, and I'm sure speaking to his parents about me would help to reassure you."

"Well, alright, I'll speak with them tonight and give you my answer in the morning, how's that?"

After we finished eating and Bree picked something up for Taylor, we walked back to Ayden's room to find them both on the bed fast asleep with Taylor's head leaning on Ayden's shoulder.

Both Bree and Bella 'aww'ed quietly, before Bree scooped up her daughter and we said our goodnights to her.

Bella and I squeezed ourselves into one of those weird hospital recliners against the wall and watched television until Ayden's parents came back for the night. They had gone home to shower and eat when we arrived earlier.

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**AN:** Go check out the new site that has the pictures from _His Mother's Ring_ and a chat page for you to ask any and all questions about the story or if you just want to chat with the other readers. The link is on my profile.

I saw the midnight showing of _Transformers_, and it was…wow! You all have to go see that movie.

The next chapter will be in Bella's point of view and it will mostly be when they sleep over with Ayden.

I noticed not many of you have read the outtake posted, so go read that, it's the original dream I had written for Alice.


	25. Chapter 24 TPOV

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the _Twilight_ series, nor do I own the_ Twilight _characters. The character Bree is property of BreannaSageCullen, I just made her genre jazz and made her the mother of Taylor. Ayden as well as his friends and family, including Taylor, are all mine. :D

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**AN:** Cabtwilighter wanted to know what Bella and Taylor were whispering about and so she convinced me to do a chapter is Taylor's point of view. This chapter is the same day as chapter 23 just in Taylor's point of view.

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**Taylor POV**

"Taylor, it's time to get up. You have to get ready for school." My mother was shaking my shoulder to get me up, but I did not want to go to school.

"Taylor isn't here; you have the wrong room, why don't you try the door down the hall?"

"Taylor, I don't have time for it this morning, get up now and if I have to come back in here to wake you up again, you aren't going to like it."

"Fine," I rolled over to face her, "but let the record show that I didn't want to go to school today." _Ayden is not there._

"Noted, now go to take your shower."

I sighed and got out of bed and grabbed my robe before heading to the bathroom to take my shower.

Once I got back to my room, I turned on my television so I could watch while I got dressed. This is usually why it takes me so long to get dressed, especially when having a school uniform does not really allow for a variety. Out of my _wonderful_ uniform choices, I chose a green polo, khaki shorts, khaki socks, and some Converse that were the same green as my polo. I accessorized with my emerald earrings, that are usually in my ears anyway, a Tinker Bell watch, to go with the green, and a green and white scrunchie, in case I decided to put my hair up. _I looked _good_. _I sighed, _what is the point? Ayden will not be there so I am going to be cranky all day anyway. Knowing I look good will not make me happy when the person I want to see me the most will not be there. Aw hell, I am depressed again._

I grabbed my hairbrush off the bathroom counter before going downstairs for breakfast. Mom had made me a ham and cheese omelet, so I sat in my chair and began eating while she brushed my hair.

…

"How was school Sweetie," my Mom asked once I got into the car.

"Okay," _school was terrible._

"Would your day be better if we went to go see Ayden?"

"I guess." _Yes! I get to see Ayden!_ If I were not next to my mother in the car, I would be doing a little dance.

"I got a call today." _Uh-oh "_Guess who it was from."

'Um…Mamó?" _Please, do not be the school. Please do not be the school._

"No, try again."

"The library? Mom, did you forget to return a book? You know that stays with you wherever you go–"

"The school, _your_ school to be exact; they called and said my daughter was caught fighting. I said 'No, it couldn't be Taylor'. Then they told me who the other kid was and I knew it was you. Tyler Crowley Jr.; you hit Tyler? What were you thinking?"

"I told you I didn't want to go to school today. You agreed the record would show that I had requested a one-day temporary leave of absence from school. By noting my request, you assumed full responsibility for anything that would happen at school. Therefore, you should be held accountable for what took place in Mrs. Vargas' fourth grade class. I commend you on your astounding right hook."

"Are you done?"

"Yes, I believe I've made my point."

"_You_ are responsible for your own actions. Now let's talk about _why_ you hit Tyler."

"He was being verbally abusive to both me and…"

"And?"

"Ayden; Ayden was not even there to defend himself so I had to do something. I was only doing the work of two people. Didn't you always tell me to stick up for people who can't stick up for themselves?"

"That doesn't give you permission to hit people Taylor. I have always told you to use your words, what made today any different?"

"Simple, actions speak louder than words. I was just making sure he heard me."

"You have a justification for everything, don't you?"

"Yup," we had arrived at the hospital, so we got out of the car and made our through the parking lot.

"I take it from your appearance you were the victor?"

"TJ didn't even see it coming. I floated like a butterfly and stung like a bee."

"Alright my little boxer; I'm proud of you for defending yourself and Ayden, but I am disappointed in the way you went about it. I'll think up a nice punishment for you when we get home."

"Aw man, I knew it was too easy."

We were in the hallway in the pediatric ward and my mom was looking for a bathroom, because she wanted to go before we got to Ayden's room, when her cell phone rang. She picked up and I had a feeling it was going to be a long conversation, and I _really_ wanted to see Ayden so I left her in the hall and looked for the door to Ayden's room.

I was so excited when I finally found Ayden's room that I just burst through the door happy to see him, "Hey Ayden!" That was when I noticed Bella and some other dude next to Ayden's bed looking at me. _They probably think I'm weird now, whoops._ I smiled a little and walked over to them, "Hi Bella."

"Hi Taylor, how was school?" Bella placed me on her lap and helped me settle so I was closer to Ayden.

"It was okay," I told her before I looked at Ayden again, "but it wasn't the same without you." _Although, I did get to hit TJ._

Then I turned to the guy that was kneeling next to Bella and held out my hand to him, "Hi I'm Taylor. I'm a friend of Ayden's."

He smiled and shook my hand, "Hi Taylor. My name is Edward and I'm a friend of Bella's." _I wonder if they were _just_ friends._

I turned back to Bella, "He's cute," I whispered in her ear.

"He is," she said aloud.

"Do you like him?" I whispered back.

"He's really sweet." This time she whispered in my ear.

"I like his eyes." They were green, my favorite color.

"That is probably one of my favorite things about him."

"I think he likes you, because he keeps staring."

Bella giggled a little before answering, "Then I think Ayden likes you because he's staring too."

I giggled at both Bella's rhyming and what she said. I heard Ayden and Edward saying something, but at the moment I was enjoying whispering with Bella too much to care.

"Ayden is cute too, he has really pretty eyes."

"He really does. Those were the first thing I noticed when he was a baby, and whenever I used to babysit those eyes let him get away with anything."

"They still do. I can never stay mad at him; those eyes are just too pretty."

The door opened and a really obnoxious voice interrupted us from our conversation about the two cute guys next to us, "Tyler what are you still doing in here? I don't have all day."

Bella groaned a little and I stifled my giggle as the dragon woman turned to us, "Bella dear, it's so good to see you again." _Liar._ "Who's your friend?" She looked at Edward and started blinking rapidly; it looked weird. "My name is Lauren." She held out her hand for Edward to shake and he was very hesitant to touch it.

"I'm Edward," he said as he shook her hand once and dropped it quickly.

She started rubbing Edward's shoulder as she continued to talk to him, oblivious to his obvious disgust. "Hmm, that's a nice name, so Eddie how do you know darling Ayden over here?"

"It's Edward and actually–"

I had to cut him off; dude was taking too long, "Actually, _Mrs._ Crowley, _Edward_ is Bella's _boyfriend_. He did not want her traveling alone." _Okay, so I lied, but the message is still clear: Back off slut muffin._

Mrs. Crowley dropped her hand from his shoulder, "Humph, come on Tyler we're leaving." _Success!_

"But Mom, I'm almost done with this level!"

"Let's go," Mrs. Crowley stomped out of the room without so much as a second glance with TJ leaving after her. _Later wimp._

Soon everyone else left and it was just the four of us left in the room.

"Taylor, where is your mom," Bella asked me.

"I'm not sure, she said she was going to the bathroom, but then she got a call so I left her in the hall and came here." _I wonder what is taking her so long._

"Does she know where you are?" As soon as Bella finished her question, the door opened again and my mom walked in.

"Hi Mommy," I said as I waved.

Mom waved back before looking at Bella and Edward, "I hope she isn't bothering you."

"Of course not, you have a wonderful little girl," Bella said quickly.

"A perfect angel," Edward added. _Damn straight._

Bella slid me off her lap, as she and Edward stood up to introduce themselves to my mom.

I moved the chair closer to Ayden's bed and climbed back on just before my mother turned to me, "Don't leave this room."

"Okey Dokey lemon pokey," _honestly where would I go?_

Bella opened her mouth to say something, but Ayden cut her off, "Are you really going to tell me that?"

"Right, be good Munchkin."

The three adults left the room, and it was just me and Ayden left – _wait, that is not proper grammar…_Ayden and I_…now _that's_ proper grammar_.

"What do we do now?" I looked at Ayden as he leaned back against the pillows and stared at the ceiling. _What indeed,_ I thought.

"Um I guess we could watch television." Ayden brought his head down to face me, "Hey Mister, don't give me that look. It isn't like there is much you can do in a hospital."

"I know how right you are. So tell me what has been happening while I've been here being…"

"Pampered and annoyed," I said teasingly.

"Well…yeah, so about school?"

I climbed up onto Ayden's hospital bed as I answered him, "Nothing much besides me punching TJ. I already said it wasn't the same without you."

"I'm sorry it was boring, wait…you punched TJ?" _Oops._

"Maybe," I said quietly as I reclined next to him.

"I know you don't like TJ, but you've never hit him before. What was so different about today?"

"Nothing," I really did not want to tell him about what TJ said.

"Are you ever going to tell me?"

"Probably not," _that would require me telling you that I like you._

"I wonder why TJ didn't say anything today…"

_Probably because I threatened that I would break a few bones if he ever repeated what he said._ "He probably doesn't want anyone to know that he was beaten up by a girl."

"I guess."

"Can we just watch some television now?" I really wanted to stop talking about this.

"Fine." We started watching _Shrek_, and I guess I fell asleep because the last thing I remember is Shrek meeting Donkey.

* * *

* * *

**AN:** I got Taylor's uniform from my elementary school experience. My school was green and orange to match the University of Miami because it was named after a UM president.

The next chapter will be Bella's point of view of the hospital sleepover, which I do have an outline and have already started writing.

I was sort of hoping to get to 275 reviews by the time this chapter came out, but it didn't happen. :(  
Thank you for any and all reviews, and favorites and alerts. :)  
Our next review milestone is 300 (I wonder how long it will take).

There are pictures from this chapter, and previous chapters, on my site. There is also a teaser/preview for the next chapter and I redid the chat page. I've decided that if readers actually start and participate in any discussions on the chat page of my site then I will post one-liners from whatever chapter I am currently writing. So go check it out, the link is in my profile.

I will spend the rest of today writing chapter 25, but tomorrow I have to start on a summer project for when I go back to school sometime in August.


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